Secrets and Lies
by Mireilles3
Summary: When Vader secretly changes allegiance while pretending to still serve Palpatine, will Luke ever forgive him for hurting him in every possible way? How will the youth react after he finds out how Vader enslaved him as a child until he became a useful pawn in Palpatine's arsenal against the Rebels ? L/V-A/E/Y/OBW/Le/H/M/etc. drama, angst, intrigue, family, etc. R and R please!
1. Chapter 1

Secrets and lies

By Mireille

2000/2012

During the war between the Alliance and the Empire, between Darth Sidious, Darth Vader, and the last of the Jedi, allies come in many forms, even the most unlikeliest. However, the secrets resulting from those shifty alliances can bear heavy prices.

* * *

Good afternoon everyone!

Here is the ninth of eleven stories that I feel like writing, but can't decide which to work on first. Can you help me figure out that answer?

The story with the most readers and reviews will be my next project in the works. Since it can take a few parts before we finally get to the crux of some stories, I won't check the final tally right from the start. However, only the total of both reviews and ongoing readers will determine which story I'm going to work on first, so, if you like this one, leave a review to vote for it :)

Thanks for your help! Hope you enjoy this story as well!

If you do, please, share your thoughts

* * *

Disclaimers: Nothing in the Star Wars Universe belong to me; everything belongs to George Lucas. I'm only writing stories for fun.

* * *

In deep space, Darth Vader sat in his meditation chamber, intending to yet again establish mental contact with his son. For the past three months, he had been contacting the youth like this, much to the child's displeasure.

At first, Luke had been desperately trying to shield himself, which had made it easier to locate him in the Force, but after a few close calls between their groups, he had figured out his plan and had stopped reacting.

He still heard him, though; Vader knew it for sure since he himself heard the boy's thoughts even though Luke wasn't Sending them through the Force. Hence, he had been literally harassing the Jedi's mind for nearly a month now, trying to make him snap and use the Force, which would in turn lead him to the boy.

However, the boy was unfortunately as stubborn as he had ever been and he bore it up without even a single mental flinch of his Force presence.

At least so far.

On the other hand, the Sith Lord had not said his last word, or run out of tactics to try on his wayward son. Relaxing both his physical body and Force presence, he reached out, out, until he found the glimmer of light that was his son. He was sleeping, he realized with interest; for the first time in more than a month, the child's mind was unguarded while he was touching him.

Careful not to awake him this time – as Luke could control his thoughts better when he was awake - Vader worked on convincing his boy's subconscious to reveal his location.

It was a long and tedious work since Luke's mind was now conditioned not to reveal anything to anyone, but he finally coaxed, even literally dragged the needed information out of him while still keeping him in a state of deep and restful sleep.

Tatooine, the answer finally came.

Vader withdrew from the contact, careful to cover his tracks so that the Jedi would not run away before he could collect him.

This time, he would succeed.

* * *

Luke Skywalker sat in the cooling sand of a sand dune nearby his mentor's former house. He had just finished another series of exercises to hone his lightsaber skills and had decided to watch the sunset while he winded down.

Less than four years ago, he had stood on a similar dune, watching exactly the same double sunset, wishing that he could just get off this sandpit.

Nowadays, he watched it, often wishing that he could return to those easier days, when the fate of the galaxy hadn't been resting on his young shoulders. When his father had been... a hero of the clone wars... or even a mere pilot on a starship.

Strange how things could turn your reality upside down, he mused glumly, yet the whole universe didn't change a single iota.

It was truly humbling, he accepted, feeling melancholy.

It was, he thought next, much like what had happened on Bespin...

Bespin...

When he had been eighteen, he had dreamed of adventure, heroism, victories, justice, and whatever other concept that had appealed to him. Then, he had left his home and had lived plenty of adventures, had even become a hero on his first day off this planet, yet had also quickly met with disillusions and trials.

The truth was that the real world was much crueler than he had ever thought, and he had unfortunately experienced much of it firsthand.

First, he had lost his only family, had then witnessed the cruelty of the Empire when he had seen the remnants of Alderaan, and then he had lost his Jedi master to the hands of the Emperor's dark henchman.

Then, the very next day, he had destroyed the Death Star, naively believing that it would put an end to this tyranny. Instead, he had brought it down upon himself and his friends...

Finally, with his much desired and vaunted heroism, he had attracted the attention of the last man he had wanted after him.

Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith.

He could still remember his very first encounter with him, could still almost feel the fire of the injuries that the Sith had inflicted upon him in hopes of making him turn to the Dark Side. Luke was grateful when he could spend a night without reliving those moments of horrid suffering, which wasn't all that often.

Then, on top of all of this, there had been Bespin.

The mere thought of that place made him break a sweat in fear and horror.

It wasn't only because of Vader's revelation either, but also because he had been the reason for Han's use to test a freezing process. Because of him, Jedi-to be, Leia had lost the man she loved, and he... he had lost everything he had ever believed in.

Indeed, not only had Vader crushed his pride with his superior skills, but he had also trampled his spirit with his evil and barely escapable temptations, and he had ripped his soul apart... with the truth that couldn't be.

Luke reflexively tightened his grip on his newly-constructed lightsaber.

No, Vader couldn't be his father, not after what he had made him bear too many times to count... Not after he had almost killed him just to convert him... Not after making him wish for death to escape the pain that he had been enduring...

Not ever...

A father wasn't supposed to inhabit one's nightmares... he was supposed to inhabit his dreams and hopes...

But not anymore... Not for Luke Skywalker... Was this his real name anyway?.. For all he knew, he was Luke Vader... NO! He objected his thoughts.

He would never, ever wear that name.

Many things were uncertain for him, but one thing he knew for sure: he would not turn to the dark side. He would run and stay away from the dark lord for as long as he could.

He might merely be a grain of dust in the larger universe, an entity that didn't influence it in the slightest, and one that was thoroughly lost at the moment, but he would still do everything he could to retain his right to live free.

He watched the remnant of the twin sunset, shifting his sight from the double suns that represented his past, to the lightsaber he held in his right hand,... his future..., He resolved that he would never give up, no matter how long or how hard the chase would be...

Somehow, he Knew that the chase was and would be on for as long as he wouldn't be in Vader's claws again. The dark lord's calls were too insistent to forebode anything else.

Hours later, when the stars had long since begun to brighten the night sky, he slowly stood up and headed for Ben's hut, his latest refuge.

* * *

When he reached Tatooine, Vader kept his presence cloaked in the Force and waited for early dawn before going down with his commando.

* * *

Luke was caught in the grip of yet another nightmare when Artoo shocked him awake.

The young Jedi abruptly sat up, thoroughly disoriented, and then remembered where he was and glared at his droid. "Artoo? What-?"

The astromech tweeted something that sounded urgent and suspiciously like "Imperials!"

Luke didn't wait for more confirmation and jumped out of his bed, instantly pulling his lightsaber from under his pillow and into his hand.

"How long?" he asked as he lugged his boots on.

Not long.

He threw on his shirt even as he made his way outside. Once there, he looked up into the sky.

Artoo was right, he realized, feeling his stomach sink into his boots. The enemy was practically upon him already. Worse, the moment that he merely took a step toward his x-wing, as if to run toward it, a torpedo from the landing shuttle caught it clean in the engine.

"Down Artoo!" He shouted and threw himself in the opposite direction and into the hut before he worked on creating a Force-shield around himself.

As expected, the fighter blew apart a few seconds later, turning the small hut into a pile of rubble. Thanks to his shield, he avoided injuries, but he was partly buried by the heavy debris. He turned on his lightsaber and slashed through them, slowly carving his way free of their heavy weight while maintaining his shield so that the large slabs of solidified sand wouldn't crush him.

By the time that he had managed to extricate himself, the imperial shuttle had landed nearby and stormtroopers were already running toward him.

Ignoring his dread, Luke prepared for a last stand; he knew that if he turned his back to them, he was done for. He had to deal with them, and he had to win.

And he had to escape Vader... somehow.

He assumed a battle ready position, planting his feet in the cold sand of dawn on Tatooine. When the troopers opened fire on him with stunbolts, he easily deflected them. Aware that their strategy would not work, the troopers stepped closer and closer, and Luke reluctantly began weaving his blade of light through their ranks. He had no choice anymore but to kill them or he would be captured.

He was simply unable to stop the closely-timed bolts that kept coming faster and faster the closer they got.

Luke managed to cut down three troopers before an irresistible pull tore his blade out of his hands. Suddenly, he had nothing but his hands and feet to defend himself with, and the Force. Shielding himself from further stun bolts, he kicked and punched the stormtroopers that were already close to him, pushed one of them with the Force - and missed the butt of the heavy blaster that connected hard with the back of his head.

He fell to his knees in the sand and was then easily overpowered by the four remaining men of the first wave.

He fought hard against them, practically wrenching his shoulders in the process, but in the end, they did as they wished with him.

While they secured the cuffs around his wrists, Luke changed tactics and tried to kill himself with the Force.

Not only did he find his efforts interrupted before they had begun, but he also discovered that he abruptly couldn't call on the Force anymore. Suddenly having an extremely bad feeling about this, he looked up toward the waiting shuttle and spotted the dark figure that he never wanted to see again.

The troopers then brutally hauled him up to his feet and Luke dug his feet in the sand, trying every trick in the book to escape them. He was physically strong, but they were more numerous and they finally decided to carry him instead of letting him walk. Luke writhed and twisted hard in their grasp, more out of terror than real chance of escape.

He would never give up without a fight.

Never.

They finally set him down in front of the Sith lord and forced him to kneel.

The Sith seemed to loom over him then, as if he meant to swallow him whole with his darkness, which he probably did...

Luke continued to strain against his captors, just for good measure.

The dark lord then grasped the Jedi's chin and forced him to meet his mask. "Are you about done now? I believe that you've made your point."

"I haven't even begun," Luke spat defiantly, and then focused his senses and used his emotions to fuel his next action. The shockwave of his fear knocked everyone – even Vader – down.

The Jedi didn't wait for further results. He turned around and ran toward the desert.

He had barely made it past his destroyed x-wing that his senses eluded him completely.

He was not aware anymore when his face crashed into the cold and gritty sand.

Vader had won this round.

TBC

* * *

Well? How was that?

If you want more, you know what to do:) And if you don't want more because of bad characterizations, lack of detail, or anything that could help me improve this story into a more edible read, I'd still like to know why (via private messaging if you prefer). However, if you simply don't like _this kind_ of story, then don't worry. To each our own :)

Have a great week-end everyone, and remember, reviews are very precious gifts all year long :D Moreover, this time, they might make me work on this story first for the next year or so ;P So? Will you vote for it? I hope so!


	2. Chapter 2

Secrets and lies

By Mireille

2000/2012

* * *

During the war between the Alliance and the Empire, between Darth Sidious, Darth Vader, and the last of the Jedi, allies come in many forms, even the most unlikeliest. However, the secrets resulting from those shifty alliances can bear heavy prices.

* * *

Good afternoon everyone!

Here is the second part of the ninth of eleven stories that I feel like writing, but can't decide which to work on first. Can you help me figure out that answer?

The story with the most readers and reviews will be my next project in the works. Since it can take a few parts before we finally get to the crux of some stories, I won't check the final tally right from the start. However, only the total of both reviews and ongoing readers will determine which story I'm going to work on first, so, if you like this one, leave a review to vote for it :)

Thanks for your help! Hope you enjoy this story as well!

If you do, please, share your thoughts:)

* * *

Disclaimers: Nothing in the Star Wars Universe belong to me; everything belongs to George Lucas. I'm only writing stories for fun.

* * *

Part 2 : secrets and lies

Aboard Executor, Vader watched impassively while the troopers locked his son's wrists and ankles in chains before they hoisted his slumped body off the deck. The boy's head hung limply between his shoulders, hiding his features from sight. When the troopers left the cell, the dark lord stepped closer and raises the boy's head to scrutinize his features from close up.

Unconscious as he was, the youth didn't seem dangerous at all, and it truly pained the Sith Jedi to have to put his son through more trials soon. However, his plan against Palpatine was well under way now and he couldn't afford even his regrets to still his hand or change his mind.

Besides, he couldn't disobey Palpatine's orders yet either. Too much was at stake, including Luke's soul.

Still, he gave the unfortunate boy a few more seconds of reprieve while he studied him. Unlike the boy that he had found and raised under Sidious' unforgiving patronage, the boy was now strong in more ways than the Force, and, most importantly, he had figured out who he really was.

Granted, he still took much after his father, both in looks, in temper and as a Force savant, but he was also tempered by a gentle soul and a selflessness that could only be his mother's heritage and that had been greatly nurtured during his years away from Coruscant.

He was glad that the child had gotten so much of his personality from her so that, in spite of Palpatine's best efforts to twist and corrupt the youngling, the despot had failed. Indeed, although young and pliable when he had first come into his grip, Luke had always known that Palpatine's plans for him had been wrong. Therefore, the child, stubborn even then, had adamantly and categorically refused to obey the evil-man-who-had-stolen-his father-from-his-mother-and-himself.

Thinking an apology but careful not to Send it in any way, he bringing his right hand behind his left shoulder and brought it back around, violently backhanding the Jedi awake.

* * *

Luke was drifting completely out of reach of either his senses or his thoughts when reality brutally drew him back within its grasp; he groaned when unforgiving pain blossomed from his right cheek even as his neck drew to an abrupt halt when it reached its maximum rotation.

"This time, Son, there will be no hiding from me," Vader's hideous mask loomed closer while the man's large hands grabbed hold of Luke's head and held him still.

"Wish a- aaaah!" Luke yelled when he felt not only Vader's Force presence ram and break through his mental defenses, but even burrow his way into his memories, searching for something.

*I have you now," Vader's deep baritone rumbled loud and clear through Luke's brain and the Jedi understood that if he wanted to mount a defence, it was now or never.

Focusing his thoughts on a shield against this painful invasion, Luke pushed it against the beginning of Vader's probe; thankfully, he instantly managed to at least stop his progress.

His victory was short-lived, though, as sharp electricity suddenly ran up his spine and to his head when a torture droid – that he hadn't noticed before now – shocked him at the small of his back. Luke naturally arched in pain and screamed again, losing whatever resistance he had conjured up against his enemy.

Then, figuring out that it was exactly what Vader was aiming for, he resolved not to let his pain distract him and strengthened his block as much as he could.

After injecting him with a pain-enhancing drug, the droid continued to shock him while another joined the first. This new one used a slicing device, cutting deep into skin and muscles to try and distract the prisoner from the ongoing mental battle.

Luke bore everything as much as he could, even when he was doused with freezingly cold water that made him shiver uncontrollably in the cold environment. However, despite his screams, despite his howls and his wails of agony, he still refused to lose anymore 'terrain' to Vader's probe.

Meanwhile, his body mindlessly writhed at each new cut, the drug making each of them more painful than the previous one. He shrieked when the electric shocks became more intense and constant, but still, he held onto his shield with all his might and determination.

He would 'not' allow Vader in. He would 'not'.

Then, Vader shifted his probe and 'squeezed' his center of pain awareness.

Luke trashed, trying to wring himself free and eventually convulsed, losing any remaining control he still had over himself.

The moment that he lost his ability to focus, Vader pounced right back into his memories and drew from his knowledge every rebel secret that he held.

As if that wasn't enough, however, the Sith's unceasing probe felt as if the other had planted a burning knife in his brain and was never going to remove it.

The overcome youth groaned, moaned and whimpered, unable to either summon up a defence or pass out from all the pain.

* * *

While Vader was disappointed that the boy still wasn't strong enough to maintain permanent shields even when under duress – hence couldn't be told about his father's true plan yet - he was still pleased by how strong he had grown since Bespin and their last 'encounter'. However, it was crystal clear that Luke had reached a plateau in his self-learning and that he needed guidance once again.

Hence, hiding his manipulation by generating another and even worse painful sensation in the poor child, he discreetly planted further shielding knowledge in the youth's subconscious, along with a compulsion that would send Luke right back to Yoda's side so that he could benefit from the grand master's teachings before it was too late.

To Palpatine's uncaring eye and senses, though, Vader would only appear to be making sure that their unaware spy would be convinced of Vader's obsession to turn him into his ally.

The dark lord wouldn't appear to care about the overcome boy, or to work his own angle that would eventually allow both him and Luke to break free of the father's indenture to Sidious by eradicating the Sith master from existence.

Indeed, Sidious would only believe that his servant was going along with their long-term plan, and that he had once again done a perfect job maintaining appearances with the boy. Thus, the boy's upcoming escape, after an extra round of torture, would feel to their most useful agent like yet another blessing from the Force.

Palpatine most certainly wouldn't even consider the possibility that his servant was helping the boy further his Jedi training by giving his subconscious new advanced knowledge with each new confrontation.

However, for all the help he could provide to the boy without appearing to, even to the said boy, Luke needed more to complete his training.

He needed master Yoda's assistance. However, Vader was keenly aware that the grand master's life was slowly ebbing away from the Force. In short, time was running out for Luke, which was why the Sith lord had gone after his son with all haste – even before Palpatine had ordered him to plunder his mind yet again.

Luke simply couldn't delay anymore his return to Dagobah, yet only a subconscious compulsion planted directly into his mind would send him back to his master.

Pulling away from the sweat-bathed form of his son, he reached out toward the wall and released the mechanism that held Luke's weight off the floor.

Without the chain's support, the agonizing boy crumpled to the hard deck, jarring to an abrupt halt when the chains that held his arms drew taut again before he could completely lay down on the deck. His head lulled backward while his arms were pulled high enough to keep him in a half-sitting position.

While that new position would still strain his already-burning shoulders and back, it would not endanger his life after he fell unconscious.

He slowly studied the result of their first confrontation and grimaced in self-accusation. Blood seeped slowly from too numerous punctures and wounds, and the boy's feet were still twitching irregularly; the numerous electricity shocks that his nervous system had sustained had thoroughly scrambled his coordination.

"You are mine, now, Son," he stated even though he wished that he didn't have to keep up the cruel appearances any longer; there was so much that he wanted to tell Luke, and so much that he 'didn't' want to have to do to him anymore. "The sooner you accept it and profess your allegiance to the Emperor and me, the sooner this will end," he stated, pretending to play his role with his son as he was supposed to.

"Wish... away..." the spent boy still managed to half-whisper despite his current physical and mental suffering.

Aware that cameras were watching the proceeding, and that Sidious was undoubtedly glued to the transmission, avidly drinking in all the gory details of this new Father/Son fake confrontation, Vader reluctantly reached out again and squeezed Luke's pain center with the Force, punishing him for his new act of defiance, as his character would either Sidious or his son's respective scenarios.

He also made sure that this time, Luke would faint from the pain, giving him some kind of reprieve without appearing to.

"Pitiful," he commented in mock-disgust for their audience's benefit before he turned his back to his prisoner and stalked out of the suffocating cell.

Now that he had put on a show, it was time to 'arrange' for Luke's return to his friends 'and' his vastly experienced teacher.

* * *

On Coruscant, and in his private office, Darth Sidious leaned back in his deep chair, a replica of his throne found in his throne room, and reached out with the Force to run the hour-long recording for a fifth time in a row.

Lord Vader's torturing skills were always a joy to watch, but there was just something about this particular recording that made it absolutely addictive to the Sith master. After all, it wasn't every day that he watched a fallen Jedi torment his son as if they were not blood related, let alone as if they were sworn enemies even though the boy was their pawn and best asset in their war against the rebels.

Oh, the events of Bespin had been art in their own rights considering how Vader had first confronted the boy without revealing their true bond, and then wait 'after' he had violently asserted his dominance over him, going as far as to cut off his hand, before he had dropped the thermal detonator on the child who didn't remember their true history. Had it been a real trap from Vader's part, it would have already been perfect, but because it had also been part of a grander plan that had been progressing for years, it had been simply sublime in its initial subtlety, cleverness, and its final brutality.

It had also answered why, whereas they had normally been able to siphon information off the boy's unconscious during his sleep cycles, they had unexpectedly lost that ability shortly after the battle of Hoth.

To Palpatine's displeasure, the child had suddenly developed an ability to shield himself from even his true master thanks to his powers that had been definitely growing stronger in the Force. Somehow, the brat had been getting Jedi training of some kind.

That had meant that, from now on, connecting with his unconscious wouldn't be possible anymore, not even for him. They would have to rely on direct physical contact between Vader and his son to retrieve the precious intel from the boy's head.

It rather upset the Sith master, but it didn't exactly worry him either. After all, Vader would still be able to find and overcome the boy whenever and wherever he wished. However, the news that the boy was undergoing some kind of Jedi training did not please him and he had given Vader specific orders to make sure that this didn't happen again.

Unfortunately, though, short of resuming constant custody of the youth on Coruscant and under his master's unforgiving scrutiny, there was no stopping his growth, as the Force's current now testified on a daily basis. Such change of plan would be costly and, with the loss of his best hidden spy, the Rebellion would resume gaining momentum against him.

He would not allow it to be so.

He sent Vader an order to make sure and block the boy's powers from expanding before he let him go, and then he settled back to enjoy the 'show' once again.

When it reached the end of the recording, he ran it yet again, for a sixth time.

It was simply as delightful a proof of his absolute control over his servants as he had ever gotten, and he couldn't get enough of it. It was even better than when Vader had beaten the briefly-aware boy back into submission while on Balti.

* * *

Luke Skywalker was still drifting in and out of awareness when he heard the door of his cell slide open once again.

If he could have, he would have cringed upon hearing the dreaded sound of Vader's breather, but he was too spent to twitch even a single muscle. His neck was killing him, yet he didn't have the strength to raise his head in a less painful position; his shoulders and back were also wracked by burning agony, each spasm of his muscles turning into sheer torment, and the rest of him was ablaze with not-so-subtle suffering that resulted from the pain-enhancing shots that he had received.

Still, that was nothing compared to his ordeal when he was hoisted back off the deck and into an aloft position.

"Please," he begged, his voice cracked from too much screaming and constant pain.

"Whenever you change your mind, Son," the Sith Lord retorted before he turned on his lightsaber in explicit threat of what was to follow if he didn't.

Although he was so exhausted that he should be unconscious by now, Luke still found the strength to raise his head in a more upright position so that he could glare vibroblades at the man he hated most in the whole galaxy. "Don't call me that... monster. You are... 'no' father of mine."

"Denial won't change the truth, Son, and you 'know' what that truth is. You can only accept it."

"I'd rather... die," the strung-up prisoner half-whispered with all the venom that he felt in his soul, "As did my mother," he then spat resentfully.

That earned him a vicious back-handed slap across the jaw, the metal of Vader's prosthetic hand connecting hard with the Jedi's right cheek, jaw and even the orbit of his right eye. The leather of his glove also tore through the instantly bruising tissues, leaving a gushing gash that ran from the corner of the swelling eye to the edge of the cracked cheekbone.

"Never, ever speak of her like that," the Sith thundered and grabbed hold of Luke's hair, pulling hard on them and his head to force him to meet his masked glare.

"Oooh, touchy," the youth smirked weakly, his teeth stained with the blood that ran from a cut inside his upper lip.

"Our love was such that it shaped the future of the galaxy," Vader retorted, tightening his grip on the boy's hair until he made him lose his improper attitude. "Her death was... untimely," he concluded, somewhat subdued and regretful, and then let go of the result of that alleged love.

"I bet it was," Luke retorted with all the sarcasm that he could muster.

Yet, even without reaching out, he could feel Vader's uncharacteristic regret and sadness about the dead stranger who had mothered his son. But no, he objected his instant reasoning, he didn't want to think of the Sith as anything 'but' a monster.

He was not his father, he wasn't a man, and he most certainly hadn't loved his mother.

"After a... fight," Vader surprisingly went on, "she went into premature labor... and she died giving 'you' birth," the tall man stated, suddenly waving an accusatory finger at him even as Luke felt his mindset turn back into its more usual angry disposition. "You were her death, Son, not I."

Whatever Luke had meant to answer to this revelation, it died on his lips as the other's words registered in his muddled brain.

His fault.

It had been 'his' fault... "No," he defied, aware that, this time, 'this' wasn't the whole truth. "'I' didn't fight with her... you did," he knowingly accused the Sith. "'You' killed Mother."

This time, the Dark Lord went for his throat and squeezed it hard even before he had grabbed hold of him. "I. Did. Not."

"Right..." Luke croaked defiantly. "Go... ahead..."

While he had expected Vader to finish what he had just begun, and even prayed the Force that he did, the Sith surprisingly released him and physically pulled away from him.

"You are wrong, child. However, you 'will' learn your place and never speak to me like that ever again."

"Or what?" he challenged- and learnt what consequence he could be subjected to as the dark lord swiped at him with his lightsaber and cut deeply yet not lethally into his chest. The pull of his weight on the new slash didn't help any and magnified his torment even as Vader added yet another welt to his unwilling collection.

Luke resumed his wailing and screaming for as long as he was caught in unbearable throes of agony.

* * *

While Vader went through the second act like an automaton, ignoring his son's begs for mercy as best as he could, and aware that the boy would not give in that easily, he also pondered their latest confrontation.

Unlike the previous ones in which he had been playing a role with the boy while placing the building blocks of his secret plan, this time, their argument had hit a very sensitive chord. Worse, he had reacted not out of a need to maintain appearances, but a genuine desire to silence the child for his audacity.

Luke hadn't known Padme, he belatedly reminded himself, and even when he had been living with his father, he hadn't been told about his parents' past. Palpatine had forbidden Vader from humanizing himself in any way to the boy's eyes, hence he hadn't spoken about any personal history with the child.

However, that hadn't kept the boy from not only drawing his own conclusion, but had hit way too close to the mark for comfort.

Of course, it shouldn't have surprised Vader that his son would hold him responsible for his mother's absence in his life. However, what he hadn't been prepared for was the boy's acute understanding of the situation so that he almost – almost – hit right in the billion with his accusation.

It had been too much, he admitted. He hadn't been able to face the truth and had instead reacted the only way that still came naturally to him: he had lashed out in anger.

Just like he had on the boy's mother... the last time that he had seen her.

Unable to remain in his son's presence anymore – not without revealing everything to him and apologizing from the bottom of what remained of his heart for all his crimes against him and Padme – Vader finished the second act shortly, cutting off Luke's prosthetic right hand to make his 'act' convincing despite his misgivings and inner conflict.

"Mull over this, Son," he said harshly, and then motioned with his finger and dropped the boy back on the deck like how he had found him.

This time, the impact with his aching body and the deck was rude enough to knock the youth out even though he didn't hit his head in any way.

Satisfied and relieved that the child would have some reprieve, at last, he stormed out of the cell as if he were greatly frustrated by his stubborn captive.

* * *

"...Mander... Walker," a voice seemed to call, but Luke couldn't be certain.

He was too exhausted to even be aware of this much.

"Comm..." the voice came again- and then Luke started awake as 'something' suffused his body with energy, jolting him to full alertness.

And pain.

"Commander, quick," a helmet-less stormtrooper told him while he busied himself with his wrist shackles. "I'm sorry for the adrenaline shot. I know that it won't help with your pain, but Vader has left the ship and has gone down on the planet below us. It is our only window of opportunity to get you out of here."

His left wrist fell heavily on his bare stomach and Luke moaned, again. "Who are you?"

"Agent Makai, Sir. General Madine stationed me aboard the Executor in case this ever happened. Aren't we glad he did?"

"Can't complain... much," Luke answered while he called the man's blaster to his hand and shot his left ankle free.

"Understandable, Sir. We have a transport to catch, or rather, these two troopers do. Will you be able to handle the six other troopers aboard once we're away?"

While Luke still felt the worse for wear 'and' rather out of it, he understood that the man's plan was his only chance to escape his father. Personally, he would die instead of shying away from a challenge, even in his condition.

"We'll have to, won't we?"

"Yes, Sir," the agent answered smartly before he finished unlocking his right wrist. Do you need help changing into the armor?"

"I should be all right," he smiled wanly. Although he could feel the man's genuine intention to simply hasten the process so that they could report as he had planned, Luke didn't feel comfortable allowing him to 'dress' him, for lack of a better word.

Ignoring his headache and complaining body, he painfully slid closer to the unconscious trooper that was his ticket out of his latest nightmare.

Using the Force where his right hand would have been useful, he quickly rid the imperial of his upper armor, and then put it on while Makai secured the imperial in his former bonds. He then removed the rest of his armor with Makai's help and quickly fitted it over his half-naked legs.

Finally, using the material that Makai had brought in his belt, they filled the right glove with his cut off right prosthetic, which was still laying around the cell, and then glued it to the armor. The illusion was perfect as long as he didn't use his right hand in any way.

He made a note to produce his stolen ID card with his left hand.

"All right. Are we ready to go?"

"As ready as we'll ever be," Luke said and called the trooper helmet to his left hand.

Ignoring the chafing body glove and the searing pain it caused to his various welts and cuts whenever he moved even a little, he set the helmet over his head.

The game was on.

* * *

Secretly still in his quarters, Vader monitored his son's organized escape with great discretion and interest.

The boy was growing stronger, indeed. In spite of the astounding pain that reverberated from him, the young Jedi was able to pull off a perfect stormtrooper performance, not flinching or showing any sign of his true condition in any way.

Madine's spy had also been easy to locate and convince of his absence. After that, Vader had barely had to intervene on his crew's shift schedule and the able spy had done the rest, managing to even intercept an order from his part to fortify his prisoner while he was away. Then, using an unaware 'colleague', he had brought in the cell the necessary armor for his son's disguise, stunning the second trooper before he had realized what had been happening.

It was fortunate for both him and Luke that they could rely on the rebellion's spies in times of need. While the rest of the time, the troublemakers could turn into nuisances if they acted at the wrong moment, today, Vader wouldn't have succeeded in this part of the act without agent Makai.

Still, capturing Luke as he had done a few days ago had worked well to satisfy Palpatine in his plans regarding their Force-sensitive asset. However, Vader wouldn't be able to pull that off again.

He just couldn't hurt the boy anymore for Sidious' amusement. He had to find another way to collect Palpatine's information from Luke's mind while also preparing the next phase of his own plan.

He had to figure a way to challenge the boy again while also allowing him to escape in a convincing way before he could yet again overcome him like he had this time.

Sighing, he sat in his meditation chamber and, closing the lid over himself, focused on his center awareness and delved deep into the Force.

As usual lately, both the Light and the Dark Side answered his call, offering a unique perspective on the events that came and those that had yet to come.

Vader thus found the answer to his quandary as well as when he would have to implement that solution.

TBC

* * *

Well? How was that?

If you want more, you know what to do:) And if you don't want more because of bad characterizations, lack of detail, or anything that could help me improve this story into a more edible read, I'd still like to know why (via private messaging if you prefer). However, if you simply don't like _this kind_ of story, then don't worry. To each our own :)

Have a great week-end everyone, and remember, reviews are very precious gifts all year long :D Moreover, this time, they might make me work on this story first for the next year or so ;P So? Will you vote for it? I hope so!


	3. Chapter 3

Secrets and lies

By Mireille

2000/2012

* * *

Previously: After capturing Luke yet again, Vader tortured him, allegedly to convince him to join the dark side. However, his true goals were to pilfer his mind for rebel information, thus satisfying the Emperor, and then secretly plant more Jedi knowledge and a compulsion that would send his son right back to his Jedi teacher, Vader's secret ally against Sidious. Then, as per the Emperor's plans, he organized Luke's escape. One of Madine's spy aboard Executor did the rest.

* * *

Good evening everyone :)

First of all, thanks to everyone who commented the first posts and/or voted for this story. I'm glad you enjoy it this much already and I hope that your fun will continue with the new addition :)

Here is the third part of the ninth of eleven stories that I feel like writing, but can't decide which to work on first. Can you help me figure out that answer?

Important! After the fourth part, I will close the first round of the poll and focus/update only the winning story for the next year or so... The other stories will remain available but incomplete until I have finished the winner of your collective choice :)

Said winner will be the story with the most returning readers, reviews and/or alerts and comments through PMs. So, if you like this one, or if this new chapter suddenly makes this story the most interesting of the list, leave a review to vote for it as a whole :) You can also vote more than once for your favorite using PMs ;P

As of today, the vote is heading in the following direction :

1 - Unexpected (478 points)

2- Incarnations (295 points)

3 - The balance of the Force and Deceit are ex aequo (222 points)

In fifth and sixth positions are An Unfortunate Blessing and It is Useless to Resist.

If you want to try and change the direction of the vote after reading this new part, you know what to do :)

Thanks for your help! Hope you enjoy this new post as well!

If you do, please, share your thoughts :D

* * *

Disclaimers: Nothing in the Star Wars Universe belong to me; everything belongs to George Lucas. I'm only writing stories for fun.

* * *

Part 3: Recovery

Aboard the stormtrooper transport that carried Luke and his ally away from the Executor, the fight was almost over. With the end of the struggle, however, Luke's waning strengths were also quickly dissipating; he had had very little to start with and adrenaline could only sustain him for so long. Of course, stunning nearby troopers and pilots with his blaster had not been exactly difficult, but it was a whole other matter with the troopers that had had time to hide away in the cockpit. The latter were now taking them out of hyperspace and, the rebels feared, back to the Executor.

"We can't let them fly us back to Vader," Luke stated, gasping for air because of his exhausting efforts to remain alert and standing.

"Agreed, but they locked themselves in," agent Makai retorted while he surveyed the other imperials that they had managed to stun. "Any idea?"

As it was, Luke did have an idea but he wasn't sure if he would be Jedi enough to be successful. After all, he had never attempted that kind of _manipulation_ before, not to mention that he was not even certain that it was allowed for Jedi to do that.

Yet, what other choice did he have?

"I might," he finally answered out loud, "but I don't guarantee anything." He rasped some more to catch his breath. "Hang on."

Then, while motioning to the intel agent to remain silent, the Jedi strained against his fierce desire to simply pass out, focusing only on his dire need to find his focus in the Force. His tiredness and recent physical trials made it harder than ever for him to find his center.

However, after long minutes of efforts, he finally calmed down enough to connect more completely with the energy field that he sought to use. Then, through that energy, he located the two presences of the troopers and, uncertain how to proceed, simply envisioned himself knocking them both over the head with a heavy object.

The clatter of crumpling armored bodies informed them that he had been successful.

Breathing hard from the mental exertion, Luke still focused long enough to also release the hatch's mechanism, and then he barely motioned to the agent to take over before he fainted, thoroughly spent for a while.

He didn't even feel the impact when his head hit the cold deck of the passenger compartment.

* * *

When news about Luke finally came in, Leia's nails had been chewed almost bloody from nervousness. While only Han had been missing from her circle, she had been able to maintain her facade and go about her duties as a leader of the Alliance.

However, with both Han _and_ Luke missing, she had been simply unable to pretend anymore. Her carefully-crafted illusion of self-discipline had crumpled and everyone had seen and understood that she cared a lot more than she ever let on about both her frozen lover and her captured best friend.

They were her new family, her new _everything_. They were her rock, her strength to go on even in their losing war, her heart to keep faith in a better tomorrow, and her love that had freed her from her tower of ice in which she had sought to lock herself after the destruction of Alderaan.

Hence, losing both of them was tantamount to losing her home planet yet again, perhaps even worse because then, she had found _them_ to support her and help her heal enough to resume living.

Now, though, if she were to lose both men...

No, she couldn't afford to think like that, she couldn't.

Standing beside the Falcon at their rendezvous point on Riflor, Leia raised her head the moment that she heard the whine of the expected imperial engine. Beside her, Chewie aimed his bowcaster at the approaching ship while Lando and the droids remained aboard the Falcon, ready to take off at a moment's notice.

Overhead, Dash Rendar and Rogue squadron were laying in wait at the limit of the planet's horizon, ready to pounce in if the alleged ally turned out to be an enemy.

The pilot than gave them the coded all-clear light signal followed by the code that was unique to each agent that they had out there and she breathed more easily.

It was agent Makai all right as no one but the agents knew that they had to use another set of code after their already-tricky all-clear signal.

That way, even if an agent ever revealed the first part of the complex code, the imperials would never suspect that they didn't get all of it.

The moment that the ramp hissed open while landing, she rushed up the plank of the barely-settled imperial troop transport. "Luke!" she called.

He wasn't dead, he couldn't be-

She stopped short when she caught sight of him, horrified by the badly bruised state of what she could see of his face. She then stepped forward again and took in his completely unresponsive form. He had been laid across three adjoining seats, and he looked yet again like a broken child.

"Luke," she whispered in horror, and then raised her head. "Chewie!" she called out loud even as she knelt by her friend's side and brushed his dirty and sweat-strung hair out of his forehead while she studied his body; he wore only the troopers' trademark body glove, the other pieces of the white armor discarded in a corner. The Jedi flinched slightly at her touch but didn't react otherwise. "Oh, Luke," she said softly, "what did he do this time?.."

She turned when she heard the sounds of footsteps behind her, raising her blaster into aiming position while she did so. She stilled when she recognized agent Makai's face from Madine's debriefing. "What happened?" she asked him needlessly.

"He went through two sessions with Vader himself, your Highness. I'm sorry that I couldn't get him out of there faster. He was alert and participated in the escape, but once the danger was over, he fainted and hasn't woken up since. I think he was sustained by adrenaline alone, hence when the danger was over..."

"He passed out," Leia nodded in glum comprehension.

"I didn't dare remove the rest of the armor until we could dump him in bacta. I'm afraid that, while they coagulated, his fresher injuries have stuck his healing skin to the body glove."

"Figures," she mumbled, and then looked up at Chewie's lumbering form while the tall Wookiee approached them. She paused upon hearing him keen in sympathy for the young Jedi and reflected that she had only heard him make that particular and sad-sounding noise once, after Bespin.

"Let's get out of here, Chewie," she comforted him; she watched as the tall alien, whom she had once called a walking carpet before she had gotten to know his intelligence and paternal side, gently slid his arms under the black-clad boy and carefully lifted him off his support and into his strong arms. Luke's limbs and head hung limply throughout the procedure, giving him the appearance of an awfully-broken doll.

Leia could only hope that they would once again be able to put him back together.

At least, she reflected while she followed Chewie and Makai out of the transport, Luke didn't appear nearly as physically incapacitated as the last time that they had rescued him from an imperial cell.

However, there was no telling how his mind had also been tormented, let alone how he would react after yet another encounter with Vader. That, she conceded, worried her far more than his physical injuries.

* * *

This time, when Luke recovered his senses, the first thing he became aware of was that he didn't even ache anywhere.

Had his latest capture only been a nightmare?

Slowly, almost warily, he opened his eyes, dreading the moment when he would realize that he was still in Vader's hands and that the Sith was playing a new kind of game with him.

The sight of the angelic face of his best friend instantly reassured him as to his whereabouts, and her sad eyes silently told him the rest of the story.

He _had_ been captured by Vader, again, and he _had_ escaped him again.

"Welcome back, Luke," she said, smiling gently while she sat on the edge of his medical bunk. "How are you feeling?"

Luke considered the question for a moment. How _was_ he feeling? Well, physically, he wasn't hurting anymore, and a twitch from his right arm led him to the discovery that he had been fitted with a new hand. As for his mental state, well, he was tired of his unceasing game of cat and mouse with the Sith Lord.

Not that he wanted him to win and turn him to his side, he quickly amended his despair-filled thought, but he wished that it would simply end, either by killing the Sith, or by dying instead of being caught ever again.

"Tired," he finally answered honestly before he wearily closed his eyes, as if to illustrate his point.

Indeed, he really was tired: tired of repeating himself with his arch nemesis, tired of always fighting just to live free another day, and tired of suffering the consequences of his father's mistakes. He was tired of seeing Leia sad all the time, tired of feeling guilty for what had happened to Han because of Vader's obsession with him, and he was tired of never being '_strong_' enough to defeat Vader in their various forms of confrontations.

When he felt Leia's feather-like hand against his cheek, he slowly opened his eyes and locked gazes with her. "I have to go, Leia," he said, aware that only one person in the whole galaxy could help him like he needed.

"What do you mean?" she frowned, pulling away from him.

"I can't let Vader best me a third time in a duel or it might be the last for us all. I have to... I have to return to my Jedi master and finish my training," he avowed after only a moment's hesitation.

Up to that moment, he had never revealed what all his close friends suspected, but he didn't have a choice anymore. He had to at least tell Leia what he would be doing even if she didn't know where he would be. She had to clear him for leave as soon as possible, and she could only do that if she knew why he needed to once again disappear for a while.

"Your Jedi master? You found a teacher?" she queried in surprise.

"Yes... Remember how I told you that I saw Obi-Wan's ghost on Hoth? Well, he was there to guide me toward the last surviving Jedi master. I was training with him when I sensed your predicament on Bespin. I left before completing the training... and now, Vader intends to take advantage of my incomplete knowledge to prevent me from becoming a Jedi. Every day I remain away from my teacher and remain stuck in the dangerous stage that I've reached, I put us all in danger. I simply have to go."

"But Luke," Leia argued slightly, "are you sure that you're ready for that? I mean, you have just been through-"

"I know, and that's why I can't delay my return any longer. Please, Leia," he begged her, taking her right hand in his left. "You're my only hope."

Like he had hoped, his reminder of her beseeching address to Obi-Wan brought a smile to her lips and she shook a warning finger at him. "Now now, Jedi Skywalker, that is low coming from you."

"Yes, but then, I'm not a Jedi yet," he admitted, and then did his best to keep his unpleasant memories at bay when he remembered who had also told him that he wasn't a Jedi yet.

Vader.

His father.

Or was he? Truly?

"Please, Leia," he asked again. "I promise that I'll keep in touch even if I can't tell you where I'm going. That way, when we find Han, I can return and help you save him. In the meantime, however, I will also continue to grow the right way in the Force."

"The right way?" she frowned in confusion.

"As in not the Dark Side without knowing it," he explained. "I will not become another Darth Vader, and the only way to make sure of that is to have a proper Jedi master to help me through my dangerous time."

"But won't Vader find you _and_ your teacher then?"

He shook his head in reassurance. "I think that Master Yoda found a way to shield himself, and he'll help me shield myself as well. Otherwise, Ben wouldn't have led me to him in the first place, right?"

"I suppose. So you're sure you're up to this? I mean after Bespin, you were rather... downcast, and the time before that..."

"I'm not saying that I'm feeling great, Leia, but it is something I have to do anyway, and the sooner the better. Besides, I will not be alone. Master Yoda will be able to help me, I'm sure of it."

"Alright," she acquiesced with remaining reluctance. "I trust your judgment, Luke. I will talk with Command and get you your leave."

"Thanks," he said in gratitude and brought her knuckles to his lips for a smoosh. "You're a savior."

She tightened her fingers around his left fingers. "And you're mine and Han's, Luke."

With a last gaze of mutual understanding, she stood up and left him to his thoughts of urgency and what he should prepare for his trip back to Dagobah.

If one good thing could come out of his latest trial by fire, it was the realization that he shouldn't delay his return to Dabogah the way he had thought he could.

He had been overestimating himself and it had almost cost them all their freedom from another Sith oppressor and the Dark Side he would have served.

He couldn't take that kind of risk anymore. He just couldn't.

* * *

Like Luke had surmised, Leia's intervention with Command had been the only push needed for him to be granted an indeterminate leave of absence that would not raise eyebrows the way his disappearing after Hoth had. He was also taking a long-range communicator with him this time, so they were content to know that, if they _truly_ needed him to return, they would be able to reach him.

However, Luke was rather certain that what had sealed the deal had been the fact that he would return a full-fledged Jedi Knight, an opportunity that the Alliance couldn't afford to pass up.

Indeed, it had become obvious to everyone that he was now targeted not as a mere hero of the alliance but as a strong Force user. Because of that, Command also understood that, if the Empire was desperate to eliminate his threat, then it could only mean that no one but a trained Jedi Knight, with the Force as his ally, could even hope to conquer Vader and his Sith Emperor.

In short, the high command was aware that he was their last hope and would not underestimate the importance of his completing his training.

While Artoo checked the material that Luke had loaded into his x-wing, the youth hugged Leia tightly to himself. "I'll be safe, I promise, Leia," he said, pressing his cheek to her braided hair while she pulled him closer to her than he already was. "If I miss one pre-arranged call, start the search again, okay?"

"If it comes to that, it would help to at least know where to start from," she gently rebutted him, pulling away to gaze into his eyes.

"The Sluis sector, on an uncharted world. That is all I can tell you, I'm sorry. However, we both know that _if_, and I mean if Vader finds me again, I will not stay there for long. Instead, I'd place my bets yet again on the Executor, or on Coruscant... or even Vader's secret retreat that we have yet to locate."

"Yes, but not for long, I can guarantee that," she reassured him, squeezing his left shoulder with her right hand. "Lando also said that Boba Fett has been spotted once again. You might return home faster than you think," she smirked in slight teasing.

"Right, but a little time spent training might also make a difference for our rescue operation at Jabba's. Anyway," he shrugged his orange-clad shoulders, "the Force will be with us this time, I can feel it."

"May it be so, Luke," she returned, and then pulled him into a new hug of farewell. "Be careful, okay? And come back to us. We need you... _I_ need you," she finished, sadness strangling her mellifluous voice.

"Be careful as well, Leia. Don't go after Han before I'm there to help, okay?"

"I won't."

Their last embrace lasted a few more seconds, and then they reluctantly pulled apart. While they were both used to watching friends go their separate ways before everyone returned to their normal lives, it was always extremely hard for them both to ever part like this.

In a way, it was as if the Force itself was trying to keep them together, yet it was not a romantic pull either, they were both certain of it. Instead, it only seemed to be about their friendship, which was more like a brother/sister relationship these days,. Still, why would they be so strongly pulled toward one another while not feeling actually '_attracted_' to one another?..

It didn't make sense...

And it was _really_ time to leave, he urged himself onward.

Even though each step away from Leia felt like leaving a very part of himself behind, he took the steps, careful not to delay anymore until he was up the ladder of his fighter and sitting into his piloting chair.

Meanwhile, Leia had wrapped her arms around herself and had stepped back to a safe distance from the warmed-up x-wing. She was holding back tears, he could feel it almost as clearly as if he was in her mind. He Force-sent her a thought of regret for causing her more tears.

Touching her mind for the second time ever, this time during a less tragic situation than when he had been hanging for dear life underneath Cloud City, he marvelled despite himself at the warmth he found there. It was so very different from Vader's mind, the only other mind that he had ever felt that way. It was also surprisingly easy to not only establish contact with her, but to be understood by her.

Somehow, from what he had gathered during Yoda's sessions, it shouldn't be '_that_' easy for him to contact her like that... But then, they were extremely close friends and knew each other almost as well as they knew themselves.

That _had_ to play a part in the quality of his Force connection with her, didn't it?

When his canopy was finally sealed, he brought his fighter to a hover and, just before turning completely away from his best friend, he gave her a jaunty two-fingers Alliance salute.

She returned it with a wave of her right hand, and then he couldn't see her anymore. His ship had finished its rotation toward the hangar doors and the vastness of space was once again waiting for him.

Dagobah, there they went again.

Behind him, Artoo-Deetoo was already voicing his complaints about their chosen destination, reminding him of _all_ the mishaps and accidents that he had suffered while on that droid-forsaken marsh world.

Luke couldn't help but allow his slight smirk from turning into a grin of amusement at his friend's whining.

Some things never changed, and that was a good thing, he reflected.

* * *

Sometimes, however, it was a really good thing that others changed, such as a second and, this time, uneventful landing for Luke and Artoo.

Indeed, whereas his first landing had been all but glorious – and his second crash landing in less than a day to boot – this new arrival on Dagobah had proceeded smoothly. In fact, it had been so unexceptional that he was beginning to wonder if Yoda hadn't had a hand in his first uncontrolled entry.

After all, he had happened to land within walking distance of the master's hut, and his ship had not been a complete loss; it had only needed some attentive clean-up, which had kept Artoo busy for a long while.

He decided to inquire about that with his Jedi master, but not at first.

First, he had other, more significant questions that needed answers, and he was certain that his Jedi master would know their answers, familiar as he was with Vader's true past.

"Start unloading, Artoo," he said to his mechanical companion while he finished shedding his orange flight suit. Underneath, he was wearing black trousers and an equally black shirt that he had begun to wear shortly after the events of Bespin. He had just felt the need to make himself appear a little more Jedi – so as to remind himself of who he was – yet the color had also turned into a constant reminder of who he _truly_ was... the son of Vader.

Yet, for all his misgivings about the latter fact, he felt comfortable in his Jedi garb, as Wedge called it. Since he didn't feel worthy yet of assuming the complete Jedi regalia of old – like the robes that Ben used to wear – his new tunic was as good a compromise as he could find under the circumstances.

The dark colour also fit his less naive disposition while reminding him of who he stood to become if he gave in into his darker feelings like fear, hatred and aggression.

"Return, I knew you would," Yoda's brittle voice drifted up from the edge of the clearing where he had landed.

Luke respectfully knelt down and bowed his head in greetings. "Master Yoda, it is good to see you again."

"Worry much for you, I did," the small alien answered, hobbling closer to him. "Glad to see you again, I am as well. Come. Dinner I prepared. Eat you must."

Luke could only be flabbergasted by the realization that his master had not only been waiting for him, but that he had actually been _expecting_ him to arrive today.

The Force never ceased to amaze him, especially when under the mastery of one such as his Jedi master.

"I'm sorry that I didn't listen to your wisdom, Master," he apologized, bowing his head again, this time in shame. He didn't rise from his position just yet. "I was arrogant, and overconfident, and... I wanted revenge for..."

"I know, Luke," Yoda answered, tapping gently onto his shoulder in comfort. "Dangerous it was, but survived this trial you have, and stronger you emerged, more tempered, huh?"

"I faced him again last week, Master. He is so powerful... Is he... is he really my father?" he asked, all thoughts of food or anything else paling in face of his one and absolute need to know the truth.

Upon hearing the question, Yoda's long ears slowly folded over themselves in apparent grief. "Told you, did he?"

Luke was grateful that his master wasn't trying to dance around the issue. "Yes, and repeatedly so when he last captured me."

"Troubling, this is," the aged one commented, downcast. "The truth, he knew you would feel."

"Yes," the youth nodded again. "But Master Yoda, how can it be?.. How could Anakin Skywalker, the hero with no fear, become... He said that he loved my mother, and that she loved him, that their love shaped the future, but how could love turn him into a monster? Why would he kill my mom?"

For long seconds, Yoda remained silent, his eyes closed and his head bowed forward.

"I don't want to become like him, Master Yoda. Please, tell me how it happened so that I can avoid making at least his mistakes."

"Come," Yoda finally said, turning around and toward the direction of his nearby hut. "Dinner is ready, and a long story it is, better told over a warm meal."

Luke pursed his lips at Yoda's sudden evasiveness but obediently stood back to his feet and stepped after his aged mentor.

Although Yoda wouldn't start lying - he could feel it - the Jedi master was still very troubled by how much he already knew. Luke could only pray the Force that Yoda would not fall silent about the subject after this somewhat encouraging beginning.

* * *

TBC

Well? How was that? How did you like Luke's part in his rescue? the L/Le moment? Artoo's comment about Dagobah? And Luke's return to his Jedi master?

If you want more, you know what to do:) And if you don't want more because of bad characterizations, lack of detail, or anything that could help me improve this story into a more edible read, I'd still like to know why (via private messaging if you prefer). However, if you simply don't like this 'kind' of story, or if it's just not your style of story, then don't worry. To each our own :)

Have a great week everyone, and remember, reviews are very precious gifts all year long :) Moreover, this time, they might make me work on this story first for the next year or so ;P So? Will you vote for it? I hope so!


	4. Chapter 4

Secrets and lies

By Mireille

2000/2012

* * *

_Previously_: After capturing Luke yet again, Vader tortured him, allegedly to convince him to join the dark side. However, his true goals were to both pilfer his mind for rebel information, thus satisfying the Emperor, as well as plant more Jedi knowledge and a compulsion directly in his son's mind. Then, as per the Emperor's plans, he organized Luke's escape. One of Madine's spy aboard Executor did the rest. Then, after Luke awoke from his latest bacta treatment, he left once again for Dagobah, but with the Alliance's blessing this time. There, he confronted his Jedi master about what Vader told him about their being family.

* * *

Good afternoon everyone! First of all, thanks to dlsky and Jacqueline for reviewing this story's last post! Your comments really meant a lot to me!

Thanks as well for the favorites and alerts. I still hope to one day hear your thoughts in more details :)

* * *

Here is the fourth part of the first of eleven stories that I felt like writing, but couldn't decide which to work on first.

After a whole summer of leaving the choice up to you, my valued readers, Secrets and Lies finished 9th. Therefore, while I will still add to this story on few occasions a year (like during vacation times), my focus will be on other stories for now. However, you know how to make me want to add more to this faster, right? ;P

Yup, you got it ;) You have to hit the button at the bottom of this post and do your reader thing :)

Please, don't hesitate to share your thoughts :D

* * *

Disclaimers: Nothing in the Star Wars Universe belong to me; everything belongs to George Lucas. I'm only writing stories for fun.

* * *

Part 4 : Secrets revealed

Their meal was served and Yoda had even swallowed a few bites of it before the Jedi master finally felt ready to tell as much as he could to his young padawan.

He simply hadn't expected Anakin to be this blunt with his boy about what had transpired between his father and his mother while the doomed lovers had been on Mustafar.

Anakin had only told him that, while duelling with Luke on Bespin, he would have no choice but to reveal the truth to the child about his parentage ; the fallen Jedi had received specific orders to use that unforgiving fact in order to conceal the true reason behind their new encounter. Although Yoda had known that the boy would not be ready for such an emotional encounter, he had done his best to mentally prepare him. Unfortunately, though, the warning had come too late for him to truly help the still-impulsive and overconfident youth and when he had tried one last time to temper him, the child had not listened to him.

Thus, he had been very concerned about how his protege would cope with Bespin's challenge, and especially after he had felt Luke's incertitude and despair once he had returned to the Rebellion. Aware that his death was now, at long last, upon him, he had contacted the boy's father and had urged him to find a way to send the boy back as soon as possible, before it were too late for him to complete the child's training, which had once again reached a plateau, stalling the boy at a most dangerous stage of the training.

Of course, Anakin had been reluctant at first, aware that the only reason he could have to once again establish contact with his son long enough to plant in him a compulsion to return to Dagobah was to actually capture and torture the child until he could be 'rescued'. However, after he had admitted feeling Yoda's life-Force slowly diminish in strength and that he, too, felt the urgency of both Luke's and Yoda's situation, he had relented.

For the sake of the galaxy's freedom, he would torment his precious son even before Palpatine requested it from him.

However, for all that planning and preparations, they had never discussed that Luke would, during that new and unpleasant confrontation, find out about the tragic end of his mother at his father's hands.

As a result of this unexpected revelation, how much could he now tell the child? And how much longer would Anakin's masquerade last?

Granted, the Anakin that had allied himself with Obi-Wan and Yoda almost eight years ago was not the Jedi that they had once known, but neither was he a Sith Lord anymore. Instead, the man was a hybrid of a moodier Anakin – if that were possible – and of a milder Vader. He was also and foremost their last hope to vanquish Darth Sidious.

Of course, the Sith Jedi had several secondary goals in mind as well, and one of those goals was to make sure that Luke was finally and completely trained as a Jedi Knight despite Darth Sidious' attempt to prevent it in the past.

However, their ultimate goal was and would always be to remove Palpatine, and as far as Anakin was concerned, it had be a permanent solution that would, while in the making, hurt the Sith master as much as possible. Regardless of the details, however, the three experienced Jedi were well aware that Anakin needed Luke's help to defeat their arch-nemisis. Palpatine was simply '_that_' powerful, as Yoda had unfortunately found out when he had confronted the newly self-nominated emperor, way back when.

Clear as their goal was, though, as long as Luke wasn't ready in every possible way for that pre-ordained confrontation – including his ability to perfectly shield his thoughts from Force-driven probes - they all had to maintain appearances that Luke was merely a Tatooine farmboy who had never met Vader before joining the Rebellion and being captured by the Sith Lord, a year after the feat that had consecrated him Hero of the Rebellion.

They simply couldn't tell the child that his father had, in truth, found him when he had been barely six years old, a runaway from a foster home and living in the lower levels of Coruscant. They couldn't tell their protege that his years-long harsh treatment at Palpatine's behest had been the key to bringing Anakin back from the depth of the Dark Side and to the edge where darkness and light met.

They most certainly couldn't reveal to Luke that ever since his father had discovered him, the boy had been a key element in both his father's secret plan against Palpatine as well as in Palpatine's ploy to spy on the Rebellion.

Up until a year ago, Luke had mostly spent his life as nothing but an unaware pawn in Sidious' game, with only one incident that had required more direct intervention from '_Vader_' in order to soothe Palpatine's concerns. Since that incident, however, Anakin's plan had finally picked up in pace.

Thanks to the time that he had been forced to spend in his son's tormented presence, he had been able to secretly plant more Jedi knowledge in the boy's mind, taking advantage of their rare and prolonged direct encounter to bypass Palpatine's normally constant and distant monitoring of the child. Indeed, on that very unique occasion, the Sith master had kept his link closed so as to avoid feeling the boy's worst pains as if they were his own; Anakin had known better than to waste such a gift from the Force.

As expected, Luke's potential had then grown further and he had finally been ready for Yoda's more advanced training. From then on, the youth had been steadily growing into one of the most powerful and skillful Jedi ever.

To balance his great abilities, though, he had also inherited his mother's selflessness and heart, which, to Yoda's and Obi-Wan's great relief, kept him firmly rooted in the light despite his second torture session at his father's hands, whom he now knew for who he was.

"Your father," Yoda began thoughtfully in the heavy silence, "a powerful Jedi was he, very powerful. Different from the other Jedi he was, however; grown with his mother, he did, so attachments he craved. Forbidden were they at that time. Married your mother in secret, he did. Loved each other very much, they both did."

After that statement, Yoda felt Luke's relief as if it were almost a tangible entity. He nodded in silent reassurance. Yes, his parents had truly been in love with one another. Vader hadn't lied to him about that.

"Vulnerable, that love made your father; vulnerable to Palpatine's lies and manipulations. Convinced him, he did, that in childbirth, Padme would die, and then that save her he could with the Dark Side. Sufficient it wasn't, though. Tell Anakin that more Dark Side power would be necessary, Palpatine did. Embrace the power to save your mother, your father did," Yoda explained, greatly saddened that he hadn't been wise enough to be able to help the youth back then. "Lost himself, he did."

* * *

Luke's eyes were misty with tears while he saw the described events unfold in his mind's eye. Whether he was having a Vision while awake, or if his imagination was simply filling in the blanks, he didn't know or cared. At last, he knew what had truly happened to his parents.

"When go to him, your mother did, with her, Obi-Wan was. Betray him, Anakin thought she did and overcame by hatred, he became." Yoda paused there, as if pondering how or what to say next. "Died... she did, after giving birth to you. Save her, Obi-Wan and the medics couldn't. Love Anakin still, she did and broken, her heart was. Good left in him, she believed there was... Told you and Obi-Wan, she did."

"If there's good in him, it is buried really, really deep down inside him, Master. He tortured me again…" he said and his voice caught in his throat while he fought down sudden tears of grief. "He knows that I'm his son," he went on sadly, "and yet he still hurt me and even cut off my hand twice."

He set his wooden spoon on the small table and brooded while unpleasant memories kept assailing him. Tried as he might, he couldn't keep them at bay and he was barely able to remain at the table, let alone hold his composure from crumbling any further.

"I'm afraid that this is my fault, Luke," Obi-Wan's ethereal voice cut in and the washed-out form of his former mentor appeared at the low table, sitting with them. "When we dueled on Mustafar, I wounded him terribly and left him to die by immolation..."

Luke, who had looked up at his mentor upon hearing his voice, couldn't help but hiss and wince in sympathy at that. This was just... His father had been tormented even worse than... How could Obi-Wan do that..?

"I was certain that he would die. As a Jedi against a Sith, I could abandon him to his fate, but I couldn't do anything else that would have been merciful. I... I simply couldn't take my blade to his throat and kill him... He was my son... my brother..."

Although Luke was horrified by the terrible secrets of his father's and Obi-Wan's past history, he reluctantly nodded in comprehension. Yes, he could understand what Obi-Wan had been thinking in the heat of the moment for he doubted he'd be able to kill his father anymore either...

The man who had fathered him was all-too-human and horribly flawed, but he was still his father... He was still family... his family. He could dislike him to the utmost, he could fight against him, and he could even stand aside and allow someone else to kill him, but he, Luke Skywalker, would never be able to do the deed... Not anymore.

"Unfortunately for us all, Vader survived that trial by fire. Worse, the side-effects of that terrible physical trauma combined with the madness of the Dark Side and he became a completely insensitive being. Whereas he had always been compassionate and caring, he became callous, indifferent to pain and suffering except when they could be used as tools that allowed him to reach his ends.

Yes, Luke nodded silently, it was exactly how he could describe him now that he had more insight into his father's psyche. It had always puzzled him how his tormentor had hurt him and yet had appeared to resent '_him'_ for forcing Vader to hurt him further every time that he refused his offer. Now, though, it made sense. Vader hadn't want to torment him, but he considered that his son's lack of collaboration left him no other choice.

In a way, Vader's attitude reminded Luke of a bully's who wouldn't stop tormenting his subject until he got what he wanted, or even of a child that wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Unlike cruel inquisitors," Obi-Wan went on, "Vader doesn't relish the pain that he inflicts, but he is not affected by it either, not even by what he causes '_you_', his own son. His world is made of black and white and absolutes... There are no in-between for him, and the only good way is his way. Only the Emperor overrules him, much to his frustration."

"Yet with all the pain you just hinted at, you'd think that he wouldn't want to hurt anyone like that. I know I wouldn't..."

Obi-Wan smiled wanly at him. "You are exactly like your mother, Luke, compassionate and sympathetic to others' plight. I can see now that she was the balance to his darker side and he truly '_needed_' her in order to remain faithful to his vows to the Light."

Slowly but surely, it dawned on the youth that his mentors were trying to tell him something without being too direct about it. "Do you think that she was right? That there is still good in him? That I might even manage to restore his Light?"

"I think that his obsession with reuniting with you might be the key to his redemption, yes," Obi-Wan acquiesced. "I used to think that he was unredeemable, but ever since I watch from the realms of the Force, I can see the conflict within him, the regrets that you have awakened regarding what could have been. He is still horribly twisted, as you unfortunately experienced, but... there is more Anakin in Vader nowadays than there ever was before."

"Seek him, you should not, though. Stronger he still is, and unwise are his plans for you. With more training, however... help him, you could, yes."

"To find himself once again?"

"To remember who he used to be," Ben nodded.

"Your best weapons, compassion, serenity and selflessness will be. Train in this you must as well, not only in harnessing the Force further."

Luke considered the possibility for so long that a swamp snake had time to settle over his left hand before he moved again, dislodging it with his belated twitch. "I've always wanted to know my father..." he whispered, more to himself than to his masters.

Obi-Wan and Yoda exchanged a knowing gaze before they both tilted their head in silent support.

Of course, Luke understood that the new venture had to be undertaken with extreme precaution and perfect timing, which meant that he would wait for events to unfold as the Force willed before ever finding himself in Vader's presence again. However, with those unexpected answers and advices, the reason for his extra training had completely changed.

Indeed, instead of training with the intention of becoming the strongest of the two, he'd simply train further so as to survive long enough to be able to help his father return to the Light.

Somehow, that fit his personality better, and he felt more comfortable with this plan than the one where he committed patricide.

"Tomorrow, we begin," Yoda agreed in the silence, and then Ben's spirit vanished while Luke turned back to his meal and stirred it absentmindedly.

His older master let him be while he resumed his own feast of roots and spices.

* * *

Later that night, Yoda was deep in meditation when Anakin contacted him again.

*Master Yoda," the armor-clad but helmet-free spiritual image of Anakin Skywalker knelt before him. "How is Luke? He is getting better at shielding, but his emotions... They worry me."

*Strong, the boy is, but hurt him in more ways than one, you really did."

*I know, but I had no choice. I had to sell it not only to Luke, but to Palpatine as well. As usual, he was watching."

However, his son was extremely resilient – he knew as much from the child's time spent as a mere slave – which was why he had selected his current strategy. He had simply been aware that not only would the older Luke survive anything thrown at him, but that, when everything would be revealed after Palpatine's demise, the boy would also understand the necessity of the ongoing masquerade.

His son was simply that strong-spirited, the worthy heir of his defunct mother.

In fact, it was Luke strength of spirit and will that had slowly but surely chipped away at Vader's/Anakin's dark side shell until he had decided to save his child from the nightmare that he had helped create.

Still... the boy was far from '_safe_' yet, for Palpatine was still very much alive even if '_Vader_' wasn't anymore.

*It was the last time that I hurt him like that, Master Yoda. I will not capture him ever again, Sidious be damned. I'll find another way to satisfy this fiend's orders until we can finally defeat him, I swear it."

Yoda winced at the hatred that stirred the surrounding Force and Anakin caught himself and strained to rid himself of his anger. *Sorry, Master."

*Save you, the boy will want now."

*Save me? Why? And from what? I am already-"

*The only way it was to reconcile your revealed parentage with your present identity in his eyes. Hatred, we do not wish for him, and his father, he now knows you are."

*You mean that I shouldn't have told him despite Palpatine's orders?"

*Disobey him, you couldn't," the small alien slowly shook his head. "Change our strategy, we all must now. His father, Luke could never kill, yet care for the heartless monster the father turned out to be, he couldn't either. Truly humanize his tormentor, we had to, and revealing the truth about Anakin Skywalker, the only way it was to achieve this goal."

Anakin sighed in self-annoyance. *I can't believe that I accidentally led him to find out about my crime against his mother and him. Even after all those years, I'm still too impetuous for my own good."

*You didn't have a choice on Bespin, my friend," Obi-Wan joined in, appearing beside his former student. *You couldn't disobey Palpatine's direct order, and both you and him were aware that such cruel revelation would make any reconciliation impossible, or so he wanted to believe. The truth is, however, that Luke's heart is something his heartless highness will never comprehend. If you hadn't had to hurt him again so soon, Luke would have come to our forgiving conclusions on his own, but since he resented you even more than after Bespin, we had to steer him back on the compassionate track. Still," he smiled at his redeemed brother, "ever since he '_lost_' you to the truth, he has been wishing that he had known Anakin. He just didn't know exactly why since you were his personal nightmare and arch-nemesis. We answered his unspoken question regarding his true father, the one that gave him his last name. Luke never stopped caring about '_that_' father."

*At least for now," Anakin finally nodded in agreement with their strategy. *However, we are all still playing a far-reaching game of hide and seek, and the poor child is the major pawn in all of our hands. I can't help but worry about how he will react when he finally finds out about the whole truth regarding the past years of his life. He will have every right to be in an incendiary mood."

*Luke will understand that you had to maintain appearances to fool Sidious, Anakin. At first, he will be incensed about it, true, but he will eventually understand that it was a necessary sacrifice from both of you... That the true enemy was always Darth Sidious and not you."

*Help, a little reprieve would, though. Only so much inner strength, the young one has."

*I agree, and that's why I will not '_capture_' Luke again unless it's unavoidable," Anakin stated, sitting down in a meditative position to mirror Yoda's and Obi-Wan's. *Now that I've acquired new information from our latest and unplanned encounter, Sidious is satisfied and focusing anew on his Endor battleplan. That will give Luke a few months of respite before I am sent again after him. Besides, now that he's hidden again, I will officially not be '_able_' to find him anymore than Palpatine can."

*Unless his friends locate Solo sooner and draw him back in the struggle before he has completed the training."

*I will make sure that they don't. I only need to figure out how to do this without attracting Palpatine's attention."

The three Jedi Masters pondered the new problem for a moment or two.

*We could leak Boba Fett's whereabouts to the competition. That way, he would have a hard time going anywhere," Obi-Wan suggested after a moment of silence.

*I could also station a blockade above Tatooine, ostensibly to catch any Rebel that came for Solo. Palpatine will tolerate that kind of deployment, but not forever. By the time that he orders their withdrawal and replacement by ground agents, Luke should be finished with his training and I'll help Fett finally deliver his precious cargo."

*Ready, the young one will be, and almost over, my life will be."

*Master Yoda," Obi-Wan interrupted.

*No, eternal I am not, but what is necessary, I will finish. Strong is the Force, but after this last challenge, my time it will be. The last of the Jedi, the Skywalkers will be."

*Skywalkers?" Anakin frowned. *As in Luke and I? Master Yoda," he shook his head in objection, *I am working with you, and I '_will_' kill Sidious, but I'm not a Jedi anymore. You felt my hatred earlier, remember? It is still very much a part of me now."

*Yet a Sith you are not either."

*I'm simply Force-strong and I use the Force as I see fit while drawing on both trainings that I've received."

*Are you aware of how unique that is, Anakin?" Obi-Wan inquired, gaping at his Force brother.

*That name no longer has any meaning for me," he warned him, *and yes, I do. However, I do not question this ability, or shy away from it. It just '_is_' and I take full advantage of it."

*Just be careful not to lose yourself again. Without you, there would truly be no hope left."

*Another, there is," Yoda interrupted in disagreement.

*Yes, Luke; I know, Master," Kenobi agreed, "but with Palpatine watching him so closely, if Anakin weren't protecting him as much as he is, the boy would be..."

*Another Skywalker, there is."

*I'm not a Skywalker anymore, Master Yoda," Anakin argued once again.

*A twin sister, Luke has."

While Obi-Wan had obviously known the truth about that because he threw an uncertain gaze at his master, Anakin's eyebrows shot up in consternation. *A...A sister?"

*To protect them both from Palpatine," Obi-Wan explained quickly, *they were separated at birth, neither infant to know that they had a sibling. Luke was sent to Owen and Beru. However, when he was four, he was stolen from them by Jabba's slave ring. Luke escaped his captors before he could be chipped ; he unknowingly smuggled his way to Coruscant where he was found and sent to an orphanage... He eventually ran away from them as well. You found him shortly afterward."

Anakin nodded at the one event that he had known about in regards to his son's pre-imperial history. However, since Palpatine had erased the child's memories of his past even long before Vader had even learnt the boy's true identity, he clenched his fists at the unexpected revelation that Luke had almost been enslaved on Tatooine before he had ended up on Coruscant, only to become a slave through his father's indenture to Sidious. Would they ever break free of that vicious circle of captivity and servitude?

"His sister, for her part, was adopted by... Bail Organa."

*Princess Leia?" Anakin suddenly gasped in complete shock. *'_She_' is my daughter?"

*And completely shielded in the Force by her subconscious doing. She must remain so until the time has come for her to learn of her heritage. Unlike Luke, who has inherited Padme's restraint and selfless care, Leia is the worthy daughter of Anakin Skywalker and she hates Vader. She is extremely vulnerable to the Dark Side and must not be brought further into the fight between Jedi and Sith until Palpatine is defeated."

*I... I understand, masters," Anakin nodded, still flabbergasted by what he had just learnt. In all the years that he had been plotting with the masters, they had never spoken of another child, yet they had obviously always known about Leia as well as Luke. He understood that it was a sign of how much they truly trusted him now even though he would forever be tainted by the Dark Side of the Force and his own dark side. *I will not endanger her in any way."

*Luke is also not ready to hold that secret, or any of your secrets yet."

*I know," the fallen Jedi agreed. *I tested him during his captivity and the results were still negative. He needs to develop unbreakable and permanent shields, Master Yoda, and time is running out on us in more than one way. Sidious just ordered me to locate the child as soon as possible and to ensure his captivity if need be. Sidious is setting up a trap with the Second Death Star and Luke is meant to play an important role in the Endor plan. When he says so, he will want him in place, or else in my custody; this time, '_he_' will be overseeing the proceedings so that this new rebel attack against a Death Star isn't a repeat of Yavin's debacle."

*Planned how soon is Endor?" Yoda inquired, turning in the direction of a stirring Force presence that corresponded to the sleeping young Jedi that was the object of their exchanges.

*I don't know exactly. All I know is that for now, he is dangling clues and hints in front of the Rebels' spies regarding a new super construction. I imagine that when '_he_' will be ready, the information will truly be made available and everything will proceed according to his timetable."

*Then we should arrange for Luke to rescue Han Solo just before the Alliance prepares to attack. I think that by delaying Fett, '_sending_' him to Tatooine only after the information is obtained by the Alliance, we will also give Luke enough time to rescue his friend before Palpatine comes after him. Do you agree?"

Anakin considered for a moment. *It should be possible, as long as I know when the information will be '_found_' by the spies. As you know, Sidious likes to cut me out of his grander schemes."

*Your own spies you must use, then," Master Yoda commented calmly.

Of course, Vader had more than enough spies to be able to keep an eye and an ear out for the appearance of such sensitive information on the '_market_'. The trick, however, was to make sure that his Sith master didn't learn that his apprentice had feelers out regarding the Emperor's actions concerning Endor. Otherwise, his motivation would be questioned, and from there, Luke – and now Leia – would eventually wound up at risk of suffering a direct and solitary encounter with Sidious.

He didn't want that to happen, not even to his son who would have to meet again with the despot at least once more if they were to vanquish the Sith lord.

*I'll make sure Luke has the time necessary to both complete his training '_and_' rescue his friend. Just make sure that he learns everything that you can teach him, Masters. I fear that this will be the last time that he'll be able to retreat from the rest of the galaxy and devote himself to his studies."

*An even stronger and more-than-capable Jedi he will be when leave, he does," Yoda promised and then, with a slow nod of his wizened head, vanished from the realm of the Force as he reintegrated his complete awareness.

Alone with the brother that he had once betrayed, Anakin avoided the other's gaze for a moment, still uncomfortable despite Obi-Wan's absolution, some eight years ago. After all, it was because of him that he had had to kill his brother so as to spare him the torment of imperial '_and_' Sith detention. *We could really use you on the living plane," he commented in regret. *Who knows, perhaps this would all be over already if only-"

*Anakin," Kenobi interrupted him and met his glare of rebuttal at the use of his former name. *We knew that the only way to fool Sidious into thinking that his plan worked was for me to die as if I sacrificed myself to allow Luke to escape from you. Besides, since you had orders not to allow me to leave after I brought Luke to your rebel prisoner, we '_had_' to proceed like we did. It was the only way that I would still be able to help Luke along, if only from the realms of the Force; my act of self-sacrifice was also the only option we had left that would convince Sidious that I truly managed to catch you by surprise and ruin your '_plan_' to capture me."

*Still, Master, if we had taken just a few more minutes to consider our options, I'm certain that we would have found a way to make you escape in a convincing way."

Obi-Wan shook his head in quiet disagreement. *Not after you led the purges so unerringly that you killed off each and every one of your adversaries, however skilled they were. Besides, you forget that you were pretending to be driven by a personal grudge against me, hence '_looking_' forward to my capture and eventual death. Since I was also rather stilted by my aged body, any other scenario than the one we played out would have left Sidious uncertain as to your true loyalties. We didn't want that either, remember?"

*Yes, I do. I just regret that it ever came to... to that dead end... If only I had awakened sooner, faster… If only I hadn't fallen for Palpatine's lies, way back when." He lowered his chin in shame, unable to meet his brother's intelligent gaze.

*'_We_' shouldn't have fallen for him, my friend," Obi-Wan disagreed with him, resting his hand over his gloved left hand. *We are, myself and every other Jedi mentor you had, to blame as well. We older adults all had more experience than you, yet it had been so long since the Jedi fought a true Sith master that we never thought about investigating further our reflexive distrust of Palpatine." Obi-Wan shook his head at his own past naivety. *If we had, I'm sure that we would have become aware of the manipulative threads that he was weaving all around those he interacted with." He paused a moment and brought his ethereal hand on his brother's slumped shoulder. *Our arrogance and overconfidence were our undoing, Anakin, and in failing to recognize these faults in ourselves, we failed you as well. Remember?" he pointed out next. *You were but a child when you first met Palpatine, and whereas we didn't offer you the support that you needed from us because of our blind observation of the Jedi code, '_he_' made sure to present the fatherly figure that you were looking for. Then, when he really began poisoning your mind with lies and deceitful offers, you were still but a very young, vulnerable and inexperienced youth, and especially in the matters he sought to exploit to control you. Worst, you were alone with no one else to turn to, not even myself anymore. Yes," he agreed with Anakin's forming argument, cutting him off before he made a sound, "you made the choice to turn your back on the Jedi teachings for a while, but the truth is that you were impressionable, easy to manipulate through your raging emotions and passions – like any teenager and young adult male, you '_were_' moody and irrational – and '_we_', the adults around you, abandoned you when we should have been with you every step of the way during that dangerous period of your life as a Jedi." He paused to let his words sink in for a moment.

Anakin remained silent, his eyes locked on Obi-Wan's compassionate ones.

*You '_are_' the Chosen One, Anakin," the Force-spirit asserted confidently, "and as such, we should have been extra attentive and careful in your regards. Furthermore, because of your unique background and its influence on your values, your training should have been adapted to teach you how to control your emotions but without having to rid yourself from them; we should have taught you how you could allow them to exist within you while never involving them in your usage of the Force. Instead, we all tried to make you fit into the mold that we had all been fitted into, with the disastrous results we both know."

*Master," Anakin began, his throat feeling dry even though he wasn't in corporeal form right now.

*Let's look at it from another angle, my friend. Suppose that you been able to live this long, but with Padme, your children, and as a Jedi Master, and '_then_', and only then, that you had been made the same offer with Padme's life hanging in the balance. Would you have made the same choice? I think not," Obi-Wan supplied for him. "You know it, I know it, and we both know that it's not because you would know what monster Palpatine truly is. He could have deceived you for as long as he pleased before revealing that to you."

Anakin had to admit that his brother's comment was bringing up several other reasons why he wouldn't give up his family if the circumstances had been like he had just described; he now knew how valuable his children, his wife and life as a family truly was to him and he couldn't ever imagine himself giving it up for anything anymore.

It only stood to reason that he would especially not risk it if he had had the blessing of experiencing it for the duration of his son's life.

Obi-Wan nodded in agreement with him. "You would also turn down the offer because you would understand now that death is part of life and that what mattered was to love and live as much as you could while you were still alive. You would know that it was wiser to '_let go_' of any attempt to control fate and instead take your chances with the future that '_might_' or might not happen."

Anakin could only nod silently. Yes, he had understood some of that after a while, but he was still working on the letting-go part. He had been in control for too long to just become serene and passive overnight. Besides, he couldn't lower his guard until Palpatine was a cruel part of the past and so, he '_had_' to maintain control as much as possible.

"As for if the offer had come at any earlier time, but after the twins' birth and their first years of childhood, you would also have turned it down, if only to make sure that the children wouldn't lose their father to any false promise. You would know all-too-well that, in the matters of the heart and family, a certain thing is better than any dream or fear that might never become reality. Life, and the Force, would have had time to teach you all that by then, mostly from hindsight born of a few more losses of friends and dear ones."

*I…" the subdued younger man gazed down at his gloved hands. *Yes, you're right," he humbly admitted, awed and soothed by his mentor's greater wisdom and insight; it was more than he could ever hope to achieve. *I understand now that '_I_' made my worst fear come true, that if I hadn't wanted to avoid it so much, it wouldn't have happened at all."

*Yes… but the members of the Jedi Council already knew all those life-lessons, my friend; we were all old enough to have faced grief, death, expectations and disappointments, and to have learnt from our elders' experiences. Had we paid more attention to your emotions after your mother's death, and had we been more sympathetic and more open-minded in regards to the importance of your mother in your life, we could have could have shared that kind of knowledge with you, saving you from the spiral that began after that fateful moment of your life.."

*It would have also helped me understand better master Yoda's 'I-must-train-to-let-go' speech when I shared my Visions with him. Taken literally, it really didn't help at all," Anakin grimaced.

*It was a little too succinct and summarized, that's true. He didn't mean that you had to give up on Padme and let her die, but that's how you understood it, isn't it?"

Anakin could only nod jerkily in agreement. It had hurt so much to think that he should merely give up and accept that Padme would die like his mother had. He hadn't been able to give her up, he had '_had_' to find a way to save her… but in truth, if Obi-Wan, or even Yoda, had talked to him that day like Obi-Wan just did, he would have at least obeyed Master Windu and stayed at the temple while they confronted the Sith.

He would have still been worried, of course, but he would have also thought of his then single and unborn child and how he wouldn't want him to be raised as a Sith. Even at that time, he had known enough to decide that Sithood was no childhood. Then, of course, as a former slave, he would have also wanted his child to be free so that he could enjoy everything that life had to offer, hence would have found the strength to stay away from the false promises even if his concerns for Padme would have remained until after childbirth.

Then, without him to save Palpatine, would the Sith have lost to the Jedi masters? Would Master Windu have been able to destroy Sidious? After all, when he had arrived in Palpatine's office, the Sith Lord had been beaten down and had appeared defenceless, and it was only after Anakin had cut off Master Windu's hand that Sidious had lashed out at him with his lightning bolts… Could they have won that day?..

What had he done?..

*I'm so sorry, Master," he finally half-whispered in shame. *I was the pivotal element in Sidious' plans and I never realized it before now." He slowly looked up when he felt the spiritual hand of his brother tighten on his shoulder.

*As I said, my little brother, we never realized it either even though we were more able to. '_We_' had experience and supposed wisdom. We should have been more caring and careful with our Chosen one, and even with the special child who began his training far later than anyone else in a long while. Special destiny or not, you would always have been at risk of falling if we didn't handle your emotional needs correctly, and we most certainly didn't."

*We established that, yes."

*You were also going to be a very young father, I mean, do you realize that you were only twenty-two years old when you made all those fateful choices? That you were barely older than Luke is nowadays. Would you trust your young Jedi to handle a similar situation any better than you did if he were also left to his own devices and at the mercy of a master deceiver like Sidious?"

Thinking about the youth who had managed to hold himself together so far but that had also been through so very much in his young life, Anakin realized that, no, he wouldn't trust Luke to make a wiser choice than he did if he had no reason to suspect Palpatine of evil. The only reason why the child had always distrusted the Sith master was because of what he had already seen and experienced the horrors of the galaxy as it suffered under his unforgiving yoke.

*As for the age factor, Anakin, most male human youths of this age are either fresh out of university and intent on enjoying Life without family responsibilities for a while, or else they have gotten involved in some kind of work at a younger age but still don't feel ready to be fathers. There's a reason for that, you know?"

*And what's that?" He frowned, still slightly dubious despite his acknowledgement of his brother's wise insight.

*Maturity. You were a seasoned warrior and the most powerful young Jedi of the temple, the operative word being '_young_', but in terms of everything else in life, and as a future father, you still had '_much_' to learn, mostly from experiences that the Jedi kept sheltering you from."

*But Padme was not much older than I was yet she didn't turn evil," he pointed out in disagreement.

*She had still grown with her family and, although a warrior in her own rights, and that she was embroiled in politics for most of her life, she interacted with a lot of older people who could teach her in those other domains that she hadn't experienced yet. She knew that the quest you were on was no guarantee that the future would be better than if you gave up on the promised power and stayed with her and on the good side of the new war. She knew that there were no guarantee in life except for her love for you and for your child. And, indeed, there are no guarantee in anything in life, except for what you have while you have it."

Anakin's eyes grew larger as he suddenly made connections between his past challenge and the upcoming one. *Wait a second, that also means that in spite of our years of caution and preparation, there's still no guarantee that will defeat Palpatine, doesn't it?" the Jedi Sith inquired, concerned anew.

*Yes, there are no more guarantees in this fight than in any other battle that you have ever fought. However," Obi-Wan quickly added in reassurance, "your belief in your ability to win is also essential if you want to win, and so you should remain confident in the upcoming fight. Just be careful not to be either overconfident or too optimistic. This victory will be very costly, as are all ultimate face-offs."

Anakin threw a wary gaze at his master. *What do you know?"

*Only what I said. Now, Anakin, don't start fearing the worst; it will only paralyze you into inaction or worse, corrupt your heart once again, thus allowing Palpatine's reign to continue."

*But if Luke-"

*Never forget what happened the last time that you gave into your fears of loss and the consequences of the bad choices that you made while under the pall of your dread. You said it yourself: you have always been and still are the pivotal element in this battle of good versus evil. We '_need_' you, and you finally need to accept that you will never control either Life or Fate. Worse, the path you might take to avoid your worst fears might just very well lead you straight to them, as they did with Padme… Control your fears, Anakin; don't let them control you anymore."

*But will Luke and-"

*Anakin," Obi-Wan rebutted him firmly yet gently. *Have faith in your son's abilities like you did before this moment, and remember that Leia has survived this long without your help. Trust your children, and allow them to live their own lives. They don't need an overprotective father, but they do need a good father. Besides, they are both adults now. They can take care of themselves."

*Like I did? You forget that-"

*No, even better than you did," Obi-Wan smirked teasingly at him. *I must go now, brother. Remember what we discussed, and when the time will come to prepare for Luke's leaving, call me and I'll pass on the information to Master Yoda. From now on, you must be vigilant. The ultimate battle is drawing near."

And with this last cryptic comment, Obi-Wan vanished back into the Force. Anakin remained still a moment longer, and then followed suite, returning into his physical body.

He was just in time to receive a call from Admiral Piett. Executor had reached its destination.

Coming out of his trance, he reluctantly called up for a report on the situation. He wished that it were already over so that he could return to his pondering.

Indeed, once he would be done with his new task, he would have '_much_' to meditate on.

His son was not the only one in need of training, it seemed.

* * *

Two months later, Luke was still on Dagobah while reporting to Leia on a weekly basis. Since he was not needed yet, he continued his training with his two masters, Yoda and Obi-Wan sharing the responsibility of his curriculum: while Ben made sure that he mastered what he had already learnt and that he pushed those abilities to their next level, Yoda taught him more advanced skills such as the shielding of his presence and not only his mind, Healing, and true Force meditation so as to not only receive Visions from his sessions but also draw on the Force's Greater Wisdom.

Under their combined tutelage, he also learnt how to enhance his speed of movement and his general physical condition, how create illusions – though he wasn't exactly proficient in that area, how to shield himself with the Force so that he would not even need a lightsaber if he didn't have one at hand, and he developed his ability to not only connect with someone else's presence but to knock them out or contact them according to the situation.

Finally, from his numerous conversations with Yoda, he also learnt about Jedi culture and all the other powers that he wasn't ready to learn but would one day be able to integrate in his array of powers. Thus, he learnt about how he could enhance his five physical senses to superhuman ranges, how Jedi used to join as one in the Force to defeat a most powerful enemy, etc.

He was also told about the Emperor's powers including his Force Lightning and his ability to control battles through his Dark Side meditations, as well as about his history with the former Jedi Council and how he had fooled them all with his masterful Sith illusions, masks and cloaks.

Then came the day for the youth to test all that extra knowledge by returning inside the cave.

This time, he didn't bring any weapon with himself, or even his long-sleeved jacket. He knew that the unpleasant shiver was born of his imagination and as a warning about the Dark Side energies that permeated the gnarled tree and cave.

He merely took a deep breath to find his center, and then stepped down into the dank cave.

Unlike last time, he didn't shake uncontrollably while he lowered himself in the darkness, and his eyes didn't dart right and left in weariness and unease. Instead, he calmly moved further into the cave, his steps as stealthy and as graceful as those of a wild cat. Then, the Vision came.

All of a sudden, he wasn't in the cave anymore but in a large and wide foyer of some kind of public building.

'No, not public,' he amended while he took in the almost identical clothes of the '_shadows_' around him. 'Jedi,' he recognized from the familiar design of Ben's robes.

He was in the Jedi temple he had been told about.

Upon identifying where he was, more '_shadows_' coalesced all around him. The young children and teenagers ran further inside the temple, the younger ones calling for help while the older ones bravely held back from the rest of the group and faced whatever was coming after them.

Luke, who hadn't been seen yet, wondered where the adults were, but his thoughts were cut short as the threat that had sent the children running became visible when it entered the grand hall.

Vader.

His father.

He was cloaked in shadows, not covered by his trademark suit yet, but Luke had met him often enough now to recognize his Force presence even though it wasn't nearly as twisted as it was nowadays.

Behind the tall cloaked man, rows upon rows of stormtroopers – an entire squadron, it seemed – walked in order, their weapons primed for death.

'Of the children!' Luke realized in horror.

Forgetting everything that he had learnt about serenity and compassion for even the enemy, Luke pulled his lightsaber to his hand – for it was suddenly available to him – and leaped out of his observation spot and stood straight in front of his father and between the imperials and the innocent Jedi children.

Infuriated despite himself at the thought of children dying at his young father's hand, and completely forgetting that it was only a vision, Luke swung his lightsaber at the cloaked figure, hacking left, right, and then slashing to bat the Sith's lightsaber out of his hand. The shadow then pushed him back, used the Force to shove him back into the far wall, and then threw his lightsaber at him, skewering Luke, pinning his chest to the wall from which he had slid down.

Everything had transpired so fast that Luke had not noticed how the teenagers began to fall under the troopers' fire, or how more younger children screamed in fright and pain further down the corridor.

He was even less aware of his own physical pain as the still burning blade slowly slid down into his trapped chest, his flesh, bones and even inner organs failing to stop the blade's descent toward the floor. He was in agony, but his physical pain was the least of his sufferings.

His father had killed children during the purges… He hadn't had '_any_' compassion left in him, even before his duel with Ben.

"Why?" he gasped at the looming figure as it stepped close to him to finish him. Indeed, why assassinate children as well? And why hadn't Anakin been able to say no to Palpatine?

"To save you," the figure answered, but it wasn't a male voice. Instead, it sounded like a woman. Luke looked up in consternation- and gaped in horror as Leia's face emerged from the falling hood as she pushed it down from her head.

She then called her weapon back to her hand and moved to slice his head off- and Luke clenched his eyes in dread even after the illusion had vanished back into the Force and the pain was gone as if it had never been.

It took him a long time to move again, a long time to remember where he was and what he should do next.

He just couldn't do anything but breathe in gasps and shiver uncontrollably.

Now what had '_that_' been about?..

The vision of his father's past, he could understand because he had never included children in his mental image of the carnage that order 66 must have been. He should have known, though… It wasn't like the devilish Darth Sidious to leave even the children of his enemy behind. As for his father, he had been the sharp instrument for the Sith's sinister plans.

However, Luke didn't understand why his adversary had turned out to be his best friend. Was Leia Force-sensitive? And if so, why would she turn to save him? They weren't lover like she and Han, let alone like his father and his mother. No, their love was more like that of siblings…

Siblings...

Leia taking his father's place…

"Master Yoda!" he jerked up and scrambled back to his feet when something quite impossible abruptly occurred to him.

* * *

From outside the cave, Yoda followed his pupil's progress through the boy's emotions and senses.

He became saddened when the boy attacked Vader yet again, although this time it wasn't out of sheer hatred but compassion and a desire to protect the children of the Vision. He had progressed, but he wasn't ready yet.

Then, he stiffened at the sight of the other young Skywalker and felt his ears curl over themselves in resignation.

The Force had taken the decision out of his hands about their very last hope.

Beside him, sitting on a fallen log despite his spiritual form, Obi-Wan also shook his head in concern.

"The will of the Force it is. Follow it, we must."

"But his shields are not impenetrable yet. If Palpatine discovers her when he sees him next, everything will be lost."

"Unless the key to his defeat, she is, the ace up Anakin's sleeve."

"Even untrained?" Obi-Wan frowned, uncertain.

"Perhaps because untrained she is," Yoda nodded, and then turned back toward the entrance of the cave.

A few seconds later, his apprentice's dark blond hair and tank-top covered shoulders appeared from beneath the ground. A few more seconds and he had completely and easily extricated himself from the cave and was approaching them.

"I'm sorry I failed again, Masters," he apologized, sitting down on the ground in front of him. "I just couldn't let him kill the children…"

"You were led by your Jedi compassion and selflessness, Luke," Obi-Wan reassured him. "That is a very big step in the right direction. You weren't motivated by your emotions toward Vader, only by those regarding the younglings."

"But I was angry at him for attacking them. I went on the offensive, again."

"Jedi Knight you would have been if still you had remained and watched the illusion. However, fight for the children, a Jedi Knight also did that night. Fought correctly you did, but only an illusion, you should have remembered."

"I know, Master. I'm sorry. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever be able to control myself like I should. I mean, I still feel very strongly about almost everything, and I can't '_not_' feel those emotion."

"Nor should you shy away from them, Luke," Ben answered. "What we are trying to teach you is how to acknowledge them without using them to '_focus_' the Force. Other than that, your feelings make you who you are; they shape your resulting values and should not be ignored."

Luke pondered his words for a moment, and then turned back toward the older master. "What about Leia's appearance in the Vision, Master? Is she… my sister?"

Impressed despite himself by the boy's emotional intelligence and wise insight, Yoda still nodded reluctantly in answer. "Secret she must remain, Luke. From Palpatine, protect her at all cost or a new Vader, she will be."

"You mean that I'm not the one at risk anymore?" the boy inquired, frowning in confusion.

"The future is never written, Luke. Your worst enemy will always be yourself," Ben reminded him meaningfully, "but if you master yourself well, then she is the one the most at risk of falling to the Dark Side. You know her: she hates both Vader and the Empire with a passion."

"And so, if she is pushed into using her latent Force through her hatred… I need even better shields," he concluded for all of them.

The two older Jedi nodded in agreement.

* * *

Aboard Executor, time also went by.

As per his agreement with his allies, Vader made sure that Boba Fett had so much trouble from fellow bounty hunters - who also wanted in on the Solo action – that the masked hunter had to remain away from his final destination for as long as Vader required.

Truthfully, leaking the whereabouts of Fett on Gall had been kid's play and from there, the other bounty hunters had picked up Fett's trail and hadn't lost it ever since. The rebels, however, had.

Granted, the princess was busy hounding the identity of the unwise individual who had decided to post a bounty on the head of his dead son, something that not even the Emperor condone yet, except for stationing more agents to protect the boy from afar, he didn't have it removed.

According to the fiend's reasoning, the dangerous and ill-advised bounty merely added credibility to the boy's top-secret cover.

That only left the problem of locating the said boy once again, which was Vader's full-time assignment, or so Sidious believed.

In truth, Vader spent most of his private time monitoring his underworld spies while perusing the official reports of the imperial intelligence bureau. Just like he had expected, Palpatine didn't explicitly advertise his '_loss_' of the secret plans of the Second Death Star.

However, the disappearance of a computer from a covert transport made quite a raucous in both the imperial and the underworld and the bothan spies – who were prominently affiliated with the Rebellion – jumped on the occasion and secured the computer from the pirates that had acquired the precious '_bounty_'.

At that moment, Vader knew that it was time for Fett to finally fulfill his contract with Jabba and deliver Solo. He sent false information concerning Fett's location, aware that it would be in the hands of Fett's competition within the hour or so.

The clone bounty hunter would then arrive at Jabba's two days later and the rebel spies in the palace would pass on the information.

That meant that in three days or so, it would be Luke's turn to rejoin the theater of the galactic war. Whatever the Jedi masters had left to teach him now had to be wrapped up quickly.

The final countdown had begun.

At last.

* * *

Three days later, Luke was practicing his ability to abandon himself to the will of the Force, deflecting blaster bolts from over ten remotes while Yoda threw wooden sticks at him that he had to cut to pieces before they touched him or fell down to the ground.

He was doing really well now.

Not only was his new lightsaber, a blue blade like his father's old lightsaber, was an extension of his arm and even better than his first lightsaber, but he was not moving of his own accord but rather in concordance with the Force's guidance. He leapt high, tumbled, twisted, blocked and parried, sometimes with his blade, and sometimes with his Force shields. He also practiced his ability to manipulate the wires of droids, but the fine-tuning it required was not within his reach yet.

Not while he was focused on fighting adversaries at least.

Then, to increase the challenge, Obi-Wan, who represented an ally in this imaginary fight, moved in and out of his blade's range and Luke had to sense him to avoid slashing through him .

That, too, was difficult, but Luke understood the necessity of being able to split his focus without losing his purity of contact with the Force and so, he practiced dutifully and with undivided attention, repeating the test as often as necessary until he didn't '_injure_' Ben anymore.

Perched on a low branch nearby, Yoda rarely offered advice anymore, aware that the youth needed to master his skills on his own now. However, as long as he was still alive, the child could always ask him questions if need be, but he had been purposefully withdrawing his constant support and guidance for a few weeks, slowly preparing the young Knight for the challenge of being the first of the new Jedi order.

He was also growing weaker with each passing day, yet for the boy's and the galaxy's sake, he continued to use the Force to sustain his dying body just a little more.

A little more.

Still, he was growing so weak that he barely started when the comlink that was attached to his student's discarded belt went off.

Luke, for his part, fractionally turned his head toward the calling device before he extended his senses in all directions and pushed the turn-off buttons of all his remotes.

The metallic balls all fell in perfect synchronism to the muddy ground.

Luke then pulled his belt to his hand and unclipped the comlink from it. "What is it, Artoo?" he asked, not showing any sign that he had been going through a demanding exercise just moments before. Indeed, except for his bathing in sweat, he was not winded, tired, or even thirsty even though he had been practicing for hours on end.

Even without Yoda's or Ben's input, he knew that he had improved a lot throughout the last weeks.

Artoo fluted an answer that made Luke apologize to his masters before he bounded off in the direction of his landed x-wing.

Han had been delivered to Jabba the Hutt.

* * *

Twenty hours later, Luke's survival camp had been packed up and the x-wing was warmed up for departure.

Clad in his orange flightsuit, the young Jedi sat beside his aging Jedi master on a nearby log.

"I will return once Han is free, Master Yoda. I promise."

"Otherwise the Force has decided, Luke. Feel it you do as well?"

The youth flushed slightly. "Well, yes, but I figured… I mean, I hoped that it didn't concern the immediate future."

"A major attack, the Empire is preparing, and so is the Alliance. Fight as a Jedi Knight you must in this battle. Compassion, selflessness, forgiveness and serenity about the past; your allies they will be against your father, hence Darth Sidious. Never forget that."

Luke was nodding slowly when an undercurrent stirred his senses and he gazed more deeply at his aged master. "Master Yoda?"

"A Jedi Knight you are now, Luke. Once gone, Palpatine is, pass on what you have learnt."

Now Luke definitely had a bad Feeling about this. "Master Yoda, I sense that you think that this is our last conversation."

"Old and weak have I become, young one. Sick I am… Holding on for a while now, I have been. Delay Death, I cannot any longer."

Luke's frown turned into an expression of disbelief and sadness.

Yoda lightly pushed him in the arm when he noticed. "When nine-hundred years old you reach, look as good you will not."

"But Master Yoda, you can't die," the uneasy youth argued. "I… I can't go on alone."

Yoda gently shook his head at his distraught student. "Strong am I with the Force, but not '_that_' strong. Soon, rest forever I will. Earn it I have."

And he couldn't argue against that statement, but still… "There is still so much to learn, so much that we have barely begun to practice. What will I do without you, Master? Who will guide me and keep me away from the dark path?"

Yoda locked his green gaze on his protégé. "Already know you, that's what you need for now. In time, on your own, you will learn, or another teacher you will find."

"Another teacher?" Luke scowled in bemusement. As far as he knew, Yoda was the last Jedi master alive; the other Force-users left were Sith, so surely his master didn't expect him to learn from either the Emperor or… "Vader?" he frowned further.

Yoda merely shrugged in answer, and then motioned him toward his fighter. "Go you must now, Luke. Wait for you, your friends and the galaxy do. Much you have to accomplish."

Too befuddled by what Yoda had just hinted at, Luke mechanically obeyed his master, but not before he knelt again in respect and bowed his head lowly in gratitude. Then, when he felt his master's final approval, he stood up and turned back toward his life away from Dagobah.

Behind him, he didn't notice how Yoda lowered his chin to his chest, clutching weakly at his chest, before he vanished, leaving only his clothes and cane behind.

Luke only noticed the death of the Jedi master once he had reached his ship and turned one last time to look at him in farewell.

"May the Force be with you, Master Yoda," he whispered reverently, took a moment to remember the amazing Jedi master that had trained him, and then he reassured Artoo that they were leaving already.

It was only after he had lifted off, that he had left Dagobah's gravity well and had entered hyperspace that he realized that to ensure his departure without further delays, his master had cloaked his presence until the last moment so that he wouldn't feel his sudden disappearance from the realm of the living.

Now, though, Luke could only feel the incommensurable hole where the ancient alien had existed in the tapestry of the Force. Even '_it_' still had to adapt to the disappearance of one of its last representatives as well as the most powerful that had still been alive.

Luke could only surmise that if he felt this, then so did the Sith. He wondered if that was a good or a bad thing for him and his ability to conceal his presence from their senses.

* * *

While Lando Calrissian had been in Jabba's palace for months, spying while setting up his cover story, Leia and Chewbacca needed to resort to subterfuge in order to make it past the imperial blockade that surrounded Tatooine.

Hence, Leia bought disguise material and a ship that used to belong to a Ubese bounty hunter while Chewie pretended to be her bounty. Thanks to this disgusting disguise and the magic of the rebel techs, her ship checked out on the imperial scopes and she was allowed to land near Jabba's palace where they were allegedly awaited. However, unlike what control expected, they were not expected by Jabba's minions but by their Jedi friend, who had also flown in undercover if of another kind altogether.

While his x-wing was now under a camo-net that concealed it from physical and electronic sight, it had landed while Force-cloaked by her pilot who was, while still hiding himself from physical and Force senses, headed toward Leia's captured ship. Then, and only once away from any prying eyes, did he reveal himself to his best friend-turned-sister who grinned hugely at him.

They instantly hugged and welcomed each other back into their lives.

"I'm so glad that you're alive and well, Luke. I was wondering if you'd make it here."

Chewie, who joined in the hug, agreed with her.

"Everything is possible with the Force, Leia, Chewie" he reassured them, and then hugged her again when Chewie allowed them to breathe. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too. So," she said, focusing back on the business at hand. "Are you sure about your plan?"

"It is the only way to get everyone out, yes. Besides, Han will need time to recover even if I'll be there to help hasten up his healing. Don't worry," he turned toward Chewbacca who was listening in concern. "Just hold him close to you, Chewie. He'll need all the warmth he can get down there. The nights are anything but hot in the desert."

Chewie agreed but asked him how he could be certain that Han would be put in his cell after Leia freed him from the carbonite.

"I'll make sure they don't think of another option," Luke explained, and then turned to Leia. "I just wish that you weren't part of this operation, Leia. Force knows what happens to Jabba's slave girls."

"It's only for the night, Luke. You'll be there quickly enough, and then I'll kill that slime with my bare hands if I have to."

Although her determination was no surprise, the flash of anger and disgust that came from her through the Force reminded Luke of his second Vision in the cave and he reflexively set a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Patience, though. Don't make a move unless it is safe for you to do so. If it's not, remember that I will get to you no matter where you are. I will free you, you have my word."

"I know," she reassured him, huffing in frustration, "but I've been helpless for so long in this situation that I just can't wait to finally have something to fight in order to be reunited with Han."

"I know, and I understand," he comforted her, and then looked up at Chewie once again. "Ready to visit Jabba's dungeons, Chewie?"

The tall Wookiee naturally wrinkled his nose at the mention of the dungeons, but he was as determined as Leia to finally bring Han back with them.

Those two were an army all on their own, Luke smirked despite himself. "May the Force be with you, then."

And may it have mercy on any soul that stood in their path to their friend, he added silently while he watched Leia put on the breathing mask of her disguise.

In a way, it brought yet again to mind the fact that she, too, was Vader's child, but at the same time, it didn't hiss in any way that resembled their father's dreadful apparatus.

Still, she was his sister… his sister.

And she was yet again putting herself in danger, in part because of him. He could only hope that this time, his plan would play out better than his last rescue plan on Bespin had.

* * *

It did.

No one even realized that the latest arrivals in the palace were all working together and that their plan was, aside from freeing Han Solo, to draw Jabba out of his palace. The overconfident slime never even suspected that it had been way too easy to make the '_unarmed_' Jedi fall down the floor's trap, and that it was because he had allowed it to happen.

Of course, most of the attendance that day hadn't believed Luke's claim to the title of Jedi Knight, hence had underestimated him.

However, when he had flipped away from the Sarlacc pit and back onto the skiff, and then when he had produced his lightsaber from his belt – and out of thin air or so it appeared – they had all understood their mistake, but too late.

While he had been busy protecting his friends from the shots of the other skiff, he had also reached out to disable the heavy artillery of the barge itself. Then, he had dispatched everyone aboard the second skiff, dealt rather swiftly with Boba Fett, pushing him down the Sarlacc pit, and then had leapt up and all the way to the barge where Leia was held.

He had been feeling her focus and determination for the past minutes, hence wasn't surprised when she joined him on the top deck of the sail barge while he defended himself from Gamorrean guards. Then, Leia had aimed the main gun down toward the deck and, after firing it, they had swung away almost like a repeat of their swing across the Death Star's shaft when they had first met.

Everyone else had also been safe by then and it had been time to rejoin the droids aboard Leia's and Luke's ships, and from there, the Falcon that had long since been camouflaged near Obi-Wan's former hut.

By the time that they landed near the electronic signature of the Falcon, however, a sandstorm had picked up in the area, obscuring almost everything so that merely transferring from one ship to another would prove a trial by abrasion.

However, while they had planned for such occurrence, they hadn't prepared for the presence that Luke suddenly felt when the enemy uncloaked his presence in the Force, or when he turned on his red blade, blocking the rebels' access to the Falcon.

* * *

TBC :)

Well, how was that? Who is going to win the massive game of lies and deceit that Anakin and his allies initiated, some eight years ago? How did you like the revelations of some of their secrets regarding the past? Or the hints about the future ;P Did you like how Obi-Wan rationalized Ani's past decisions and how they could have helped him more if they had been more attentive? What do you think will happen next? Who is waiting for them by the Falcon, and why?

Have a great week-end everyone, and remember, reviews are very precious gifts all year long! Please, pretty please? :)

P.s. : By the way, sorry about the ' ' around the italicized words, but it was either leave them there and post this week, or erase them before posting and not update before another month at least... I am already one month later than I expected to be ready for this update... I figured that updating the stories was more important for you than the ' '. Was I right?

While you enjoy the new updates, I will finish the edition and remove the ' ', don't worry ;P


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